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For immediate release June 30, 2008

WATER AND WASTEWATER CONSTRUCTION LOANS AWARDED

LOW-INTEREST LOANS HELP FUND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Nashville, Tenn. – Governor Phil Bredesen has announced that two communities and one utility district will receive low-interest loans totaling more than $8 million from the State Revolving Fund Loan Program to fund much-needed water and wastewater construction projects. The Department of Environment and Conservation administers the SRF Loan Program for the state of Tennessee.

“I am pleased to see local governments accessing this important program,” Bredesen said. “The State Revolving Fund loan program is a tool to help communities address their current infrastructure needs and to allow them to prepare for future needs.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awards annual grants to fund the SRF Loan Program, with the state providing the required 20 percent match.  Loan repayments are returned to the program and used to fund future projects. 

SRF loan recipients, whose loan amounts and projects are detailed below, include the Ocoee Utility District and the cities of Lebanon and Mount Pleasant.

“Community investments in our drinking water and wastewater systems are vital to maintaining environmental and public health,” Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke said. “These loans will help keep our communities moving forward.”

The SRF Loan Program provides low-interest loans that help communities, utility districts and water and wastewater authorities finance projects that protect Tennessee’s ground and surface waters and public health. Loans are used to finance the planning, design and construction of water and wastewater facilities. Through this program, communities, utility districts and water and wastewater authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than most can obtain through private financing.  Interest rates for the loans can vary from zero percent to market rate based on each community’s economic index.

The funding order of projects is determined by the SRF Loan Program’s Priority Ranking Lists that rank potential projects according to the severity of their pollution and/or compliance problems and for the protection of public health.

SRF Wastewater Loans were announced today for the following recipients:

  • Lebanon, Wilson County – A $550,000, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 2.40 percent for the collection system extension and relocation of Summercrest/Highway 70/Highway 109 force main.
  • Mount Pleasant, Maury County – A $3.19 million increase to an existing 20-year loan with an interest rate of 2.05 percent for a new 1.5 million gallons per day lagoon with spray irrigation and conversion of the existing plant into a surge basin.

SRF Drinking Water Loans were announced today for the following recipients:

  • Lebanon, Wilson County – A $2.5 million, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 2.33 percent for water treatment plant improvements and a new electrical generator.
  • Ocoee Utility District, Polk and Bradley Counties – A $1.8 million, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.19 percent for the South waterline extensions and Spring Place Road water line replacement.

Since its inception in 1987, Tennessee’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded nearly $954 million in low-interest loans. Since its inception in 1996, Tennessee’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $112 million in low-interest loans. Both programs combined award approximately $75 million annually to Tennessee’s local governments for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.

Any local government interested in the SRF Loan Program should contact the State Revolving Fund Loan Program, L&C Tower, Eighth Floor, 401 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37243, or call (615) 532-0445. Information about SRF Loan Program may be found online at www.tn.gov/environment/srf.

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For more information contact:

Tisha Calabrese-Benton
Office (865) 594-5442

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