Illinois EPA Funds Clean Diesel, Wastewater Treatment Projects in Champaign County

URBANA/HOMER —Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott  visited facilities in Champaign County that have received American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA or "federal stimulus") funds and other state loans and grants, including clean diesel bus retrofits for the Champaign-Urbana area transit district, financing of a major wastewater treatment plant upgrade, and a wastewater treatment plant and sewage collection system in the Village of Homer, that has relied entirely on septic systems.

 

"We are pleased to partner with local government units in Champaign County to move these projects forward that will reduce environmental pollution and enhance public health, as well as promote a better quality of life, and are already creating additional jobs," said Director Scott.

 

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) is retrofitting 43 of its buses with diesel particulate filters that capture about 90 percent of the diesel soot and up to 85 percent of the hydrocarbons and carbon monoxides emitted from the tailpipes. The $445,000 grant for the project is the largest ever awarded from Illinois EPA's Clean Diesel Grant Program and comes from nearly $6 million for clean diesel projects provided to Illinois EPA under ARRA.

 

The Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District (UCSD) is using a $20 million zero-interest, partial principal forgiveness and $17.2 million Water Pollution Control Loan Program financing from Illinois EPA for a major rehabilitation and expansion at the Northeast Treatment Plant. The favorable financing made possible by ARRA will result in a savings over the 20-year loan repayment period to residents and businesses of more than $25.9 million in principal and interest charges and is expected to create at least 175 jobs over the length of the project.

 

The Village of Homer is receiving $5.56 million from the Water Pollution Control Loan Program with zero interest and 25 percent principal forgiveness, coupled with a $5 million grant from the state-funded Unsewered Communities Program to construct the village's first wastewater treatment plant and centralized sewage collection system, with a savings of more than $12.2 million in principal and interest over the 20-year loan repayment period. It will replace the individual septic systems now relied on by residents and businesses in the village of 1,200. The septic systems have a history of discharging into storm sewers or drainage tiles and sometimes causing health concerns and odor complaints. Total cost of the project is $10.9 million with at least 15 jobs created so far, with a conservative estimate of 80 jobs created over the length of the project.  

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