E-M:/ MDEQ release on water infrastructure funding

["Alex J. Sagady & Associates" <ajs@sagady.com>]

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Enviro-Mich message from "Alex J. Sagady & Associates" <ajs@sagady.com>
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2005

Contact: Robert McCann
               (517) 241-7397

DEQ Announces More Than $30 million for Clean Water and Infastructure 
Improvements

The Department of Environmental Quality announced nearly $31 million in new 
loan commitments to upgrade public drinking water and sewer 
systems.  Through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking 
Water Revolving Fund, the state provides low-interest loans to communities 
to make needed improvements to wastewater collection and treatment 
facilities and improvements to public drinking water systems.  The loans 
are tendered through the Michigan Municipal Bond Authority.

"As the wastewater and drinking water infrastructures in Michigan continue 
to age, the demand for assistance like that provided by the revolving fund 
programs will continue to grow," said DEQ Director Steven E. 
Chester.  "These funds ease the financial burden of necessary  system 
improvements through below market interest rates, and represent a real 
investment in Michigan's environmental and economic future."

The funded SRF projects include:

*  $14,595,000 to the city of Lansing to finance another segment of the 
city's Long Term Combined Sewer Overflow Control Program targeted towards 
eliminating the discharge of raw sewage into the Grand River.

*  A $2,535,000 loan to the city of Port Huron to continue efforts to 
address Combined Sewer Overflows within the city.

*  A loan of $8,200,000 to the city of Warren, to finance the fourth and 
last project in a series of improvements to the city's wastewater treatment 
plant.
These commitments bring SRF financing awarded to Michigan communities to 
date to over $2.1 billion. These recent projects are strong examples of the 
commitments being made by local units of government in Michigan to ensure 
protection of the state's valuable water resources and the public health of 
its citizens.

The funded DWRF projects include:

*  Three loans totaling $4,640,000 to the city of Port Huron for the 
replacement of deteriorated water mains that have reached the end of their 
useful life.  To date, the city has received nine DWRF loans for this 
project that total nearly $24 million.

*  A $625,000 loan to Oakland County's Independence Township to complete 
construction of a project involving the addition of news wells and the 
looping of water mains, as well as the upgrade of treatment and storage 
components of its public drinking water system.

The improvements financed by these loans will protect the public health of 
the people in these communities. Since the inception of Michigan's DWRF 
program in 1998, over $335 million in assistance has been loaned to 
communities; creating jobs, improving infrastructure, and protecting public 
health and the environment in each case.

Program interest rates will remain well below open market rates, with 
Fiscal Year 2005 rates set at 1.675 percent in the SRF and the Strategic 
Water Quality Initiatives Fund, while the DWRF rate has been set at 2.125 
percent.

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Alex J. Sagady & Associates        http://www.sagady.com

Environmental Enforcement, Permit/Technical Review, Public Policy,
Evidence Review and Litigation Investigation on Air, Water and
Waste/Community Environmental and Resource Protection
Prospectus at:  http://www.sagady.com/sagady.pdf

PO Box 39,  East Lansing, MI  48826-0039
(517) 332-6971; (517) 332-8987 (fax); ajs@sagady.com
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