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EPA Awards $8 million to Delaware for Drinking Water Projects

Release Date: 10/27/2003
Contact Information: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567

Contact: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567
PHILADELPHIA - The United States Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $8 million to Delaware Health and Social Services to improve drinking water systems and protect drinking water supplies. The state will contribute $1.6 million in matching funds.

“We are all fortunate to live in a country that has one of best supplies of safe drinking water in the world. This grant helps ensure that public drinking water supplies in Delaware remain safe and affordable, and that drinking water systems are properly operated and maintained throughout the state,” said Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

About $7.3 million of the funding will be used to provide Delaware communities with low-interest loans to fund improvements to drinking water systems that could include upgrading treatment plants, replacing storage tanks, consolidating inadequate facilities, replacing distribution lines, improving pumping stations, and constructing wells and transmission mains.

Additionally, Delaware Health and Social Services will use about $2.3 million of the funding to manage the loan program, to provide technical assistance to small water systems, to expand operator training and certification programs, to protect drinking water supplies from contamination and to ensure that drinking water systems remain viable.

The EPA grant is from the drinking water state revolving fund authorized by the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The program emphasizes preventing contamination through source water protection and enhanced water systems management. As communities repay their loans, the funds are available for new projects in Delaware.