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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 1996
96-165
CONTACT:
Richard Koch (509) 456-6162
Mary Getchell (360) 407-6157
Department Of Ecology Issues Loan To The City Of Ephrata To Improve Water Quality
SPOKANE, WA -- The city of Ephrata is working to protect and improve ground water quality. Recently the Washington State Department of Ecology issued a $536,000 loan to the city.
"The loan and technical assistance we are providing to Ephrata is a great partnership approach to making important environmental progress. Funding and assisting with the community's water quality project is a primary goal of the Department of Ecology," said Mike Llewelyn, Ecology's Water Quality Program manager.
The loan is to help the city design an upgrade to its wastewater treatment facility. The loan for the design is part of a significant step toward public health and environmental protection. The entire wastewater treatment facility upgrade is expected to be completed during the next several years. The current treatment plant is old and replacement parts for it are not available. The plant isn't adequate for the anticipated population growth in the area. Also, Ecology is concerned that discharges from the plant may be harming ground water.
The goal of the upgrade is to discharge what's called Class A reclaimed water. The city will reduce so much of the pollution in its discharge that the wastewater discharge will be of a high enough quality to be reused for crop irrigation or aquifer recharge (returning water to the ground).
Ecology issued the city a State Revolving Fund loan. This year Ecology issued $53.6 million of State Revolving Fund loans to local governments. Ecology administers the federal program of issuing low-interest loans to local governments to improve water quality.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
