News - Local
DEQ Nominates West Monroe Project for EPA Award
Posted: Sep 8, 2010 9:24 AM by Katie Durio
Updated: Sep 8, 2010 9:24 AM
BATON ROUGE -- The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has nominated West Monroe for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's PISCES Award. The PISCES award is given to projects that have demonstrated extraordinary success of the state's Clean Water State Revolving Fund program.
These projects are nominated nationwide and show excellence in protecting the environment; especially water quality.
West Monroe's project is unique in that it is significantly reducing pollution that is discharged into the Ouachita River, while also reducing the strain of water being used in the Sparta Aquifer. The city has worked with Graphic Packaging International to design this innovative project using partial funding from DEQ. The project is estimated to cost more than $20 million, with $4.75 million coming from a DEQ award of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and $1.25 million from the DEQ state revolving loan fund.
With the funds, the city will eliminate the pollution that is currently discharged to the Ouachita River by the existing treatment facility. The new treatment plant will pipe the treated wastewater to Graphic Packaging International, who will use the water for its industrial processes.
GPI, which employs 1,200 people, will be able to significantly reduce the amount of water it draws from the Sparta Aquifer by using the city's treated wastewater. The Sparta Aquifer supplies water to 14 parishes and is suffering from declining water levels.
"It's exciting to have a project like this in Louisiana," said DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch. "DEQ is proud to be a part of something as environmentally innovative as the water reuse project the city of West Monroe and Graphic Packaging have been nominated for. This project is good for the environment in so many ways, but also makes good business sense."
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