Wastewater Project Gets Federal Boost

ABINGDON, Va. – Washington County will receive more than $2.5 million in federal funding to expand the reach of a sewage treatment program.

The funding – which comes from a grant and a low-interest loan – was announced Monday by U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th. He hailed it as a “significant step” toward improving wastewater service throughout the region.

Even before the federal funds became available, the Washington County Board of Supervisors in March unanimously agreed to move forward on the $3.8 million project to provide service to 218 homes in the area between Exits 13 and 14 of Interstate 81. Some 40 residents in this area have experienced the unpleasant effects of sewage system failures, with the wastewater rising to the ground surface.

The project will add nearly seven miles of collection lines to a sewer system run by the town of Abingdon, reaching homes in the subdivisions of Westwood and Westwood View, and along Old Jonesboro Road, according to Boucher and Washington County officials. The county will install and own the lines and a new wastewater pump station; the town will provide treatment for the sewage.

The county is receiving a $1 million grant and a $1.57 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Washington County Service Authority also has secured a $980,000 state grant and is putting up $300,000 of its own.

Boucher has made projects for water, wastewater and broadband services his priorities for federal stimulus funds, seeking to spark the local economy and build infrastructure for sustained economic growth.

“This project meets both of those needs,” he said in an interview Monday. “The Exit 13 area is constrained at the moment because of inadequate wastewater capacity. Providing that capacity will enable that very valuable land to be developed for residential, commercial and industrial growth.”

Across the 9th District, Boucher said, localities have received more than $32 million in stimulus funds to build and improve wastewater systems.

Area localities to receive the funding, according to http://www.stimulus.virginia.gov:
* Clintwood: $803,985
* Wise County: $1.03 million
* Big Stone Gap: $1.83 million
* Tazewell County: $2 million
* Abingdon: $378,900
* and Smyth County: $870,728.

The county will hire private contractors to put in the collection lines and the pump, said Robbie Cornett, director of the Service Authority.

“It is certainly putting people to work that might not be working otherwise,” he said.

The new project will not relieve the sewage needs of county residents closer to the Bristol line, and will not affect the county’s negotiations to buy capacity from Bristol Virginia Utilities, county officials said Monday.

“That’ll be a different project,” Reynolds, the board chairman, said. “We’re still working with Bristol on that.”

Reynolds and Walt Bressler, BVU’s attorney, said the two entities are working on setting up a meeting in their three-year effort to finalize a deal. The county and city utility appeared close to a deal in 2007, but talks languished and were scrambled earlier this year when Washington County appeared to back out, and BVU responded with a higher price.

The sticking point is whether the county will purchase water as well as wastewater storage from BVU, which is what it would take for the deal to make financial sense for Bristol, Bressler said.

Bressler received word Monday that the county intended to “hand-deliver a letter” responding to BVU’s latest offer, and wants to set up a meeting. Reynolds confirmed this, saying both options – of buying water and sewage capacity – are still on the table.

“In a sense, it is a counter offer,” he said.

The prospect of the county building a $30 million sewage treatment facility remains on the horizon, said Cornett, and neither the new federal funds nor the ongoing discussions with BVU have budged the county one way or the other.

“I think what will always be on the table is a wastewater treatment system for Washington County,” Cornett said. “The question may be when is the appropriate moment in time to pursue that.”

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