FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Department of Natural Resources awards $3.8 million to the City of Drexel
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, OCT. 21, 2019 – The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has awarded $3.8 million in financial assistance to the City of Drexel to improve its wastewater treatment system.
The funding is estimated to cover all project costs. The project will enable the city’s wastewater system to meet effluent limits and protect water quality.
The improvement plans include new lagoon aerators, a new lift station and approximately 6,000 linear feet of pipeline to deliver effluent to a new storage lagoon. The new lagoon will be 8 acres in area and hold 26 million gallons of effluent. A new irrigation pump and 2,500 linear feet of irrigation pipeline will take effluent from the new storage lagoon to the land application site. The project is expected to be completed by December 2020.
Project funding consists of a $1.66 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan and a $2.16 million grant. The State Revolving Fund provides funding opportunities to communities with infrastructure needs for water quality, wastewater and drinking water. The $3.8 million total funding package is estimated to save the city’s ratepayers $2.16 million in principal and approximately $460,000 in interest costs over the 20 year term of the loan. The city will be responsible for funding any ineligible costs and cost overruns.
"Water and wastewater systems are critical to the health and economic wellbeing of every community in Missouri," said Carol Comer, director of the Department of Natural Resources. "Investing in our aging wastewater infrastructure helps protect human health and the environment and allows our communities to continue growing. We are committed to assisting public entities with funding efforts that support these infrastructure improvement projects and provide financial savings."
This project will be funded wholly or in part with monies received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information on wastewater and drinking water funding opportunities, visit dnr.mo.gov/env/wpp/srf/index.