Pennvest on Tuesday announced loans and grants totaling $79 million for 27 water, sewer and runoff remediation projects and the biggest chunk went to the Williamsburg Municipal Authority.
The authority got 16 percent of the total - $12.8 million - to upgrade its sewer plant and to add six miles of lines to provide community sewer to 179 customers in areas where malfunctioning on-lot systems are polluting wells and streams.
Pennvest also awarded loans totaling $685,000 for manure-handling facilities and a manure storage tank and other improvements to prevent runoff into Clover Creek in Morrisons Cove.
The funding agency did not provide money for a $6 million Altoona Water Authority meter replacement and reading automation project.
The $1.6 million grant and $11.1 million loan for Williamsburg, coupled with an earlier $4 million grant from the state's H2O fund will cover the entire $16.8 million cost of the projects, according to authority consulting engineer John Clabaugh of Stiffler McGraw.
The project is ready to go to bid, authority Chairman Ed Patterson said.
Workers will install a "sequencing batch reactor" system at the plant, at a cost of $11 million, to protect Chesapeake Bay by removing nitrogen and phosphorus to prevent algae growth.
The project will not increase plant capacity, as the facility will be able to handle - barely - the new customers the line extensions will bring on.
There hasn't been enough development in the area to justify a capacity increase, although the plant design is modular, so adding in the future wouldn't be hard, Clabaugh said.
The new lines will extend into the six watershed areas - of eight studied - that qualified for funding based on the malfunctioning of at least 50 percent of on-lot systems.
Everyone in the areas where the lines will run will need to hook on, even if their septic systems are functioning now.
It's a requirement of the funding, Clabaugh said.
Customers currently pay $45 a month, Patterson said.
The amount of the monthly increase is uncertain, as Pennvest hasn't informed the authority of the interest rate and payback period for the loan, Clabaugh said.
Munster Township residents in Cambria County whose private well systems are contaminated with bacteria will see the quality of their water change for the better.
The Cresson Township Municipal Authority received $1.5 million in loans and grants to construct three miles of drinking water distribution lines, adding Munster Township residents to the authority's water system.
About 45 homes in Munster Township will be added to the system, which currently serves about 700 residents in Cresson Township.
The project is expected to begin in January.
Pennvest also awarded loans totaling $685,000 for manure-handling facilities and a manure storage tank and other improvements to prevent runoff into Clover Creek in Morrisons Cove.
The funding agency did not provide money for a $6 million Altoona Water Authority meter replacement and reading automation project.
The authority will reapply for the next round of Pennvest funding in January.
"You don't always get it on the first round," Controller Gina DeRubeis said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038. Staff Writer Zach Geiger is at 946-7535.
