City of Douglas breaks ground on Wastewater Treatment Plant
Douglas, Arizona – Today, the City of Douglas, Arizona, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), North American Development Bank (NADB) and their partners, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the Douglas Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will permit access to first-time wastewater services in an unserved area of town, eliminate exposure to untreated wastewater discharges and reduce water pollution and the risk of waterborne disease.
In addition to increasing plant capacity from 2.0 million to 2.6 million gallons a day to accommodate additional flows from the expanded collection system, upgrades to the treatment process will also improve the quality of the effluent discharged by the plant. The plant expansion is part of a US$19.77 million project that will also include new wastewater collection infrastructure for the unserved residential area of Bay Acres subdivision, including installation of yard-line connections from the home to the Wastewater Collection System and decommissioning of existing on-site wastewater disposal systems.
Douglas Mayor Robert Uribe, Alex Hinojosa, Managing Director of the NADB, Tomás Torres, Water Division Director, EPA Region 9 and Alesia Ash from the Office of Congresswoman Martha McSally as well as other local officials presided over the groundbreaking ceremony.
“For the City of Douglas and the surrounding communities, this expansion means better environmental and health results for decades to come,” said Rep. McSally. “Today’s groundbreaking is the fruition of a multi-year long effort to upgrade the treatment plant and provide first-time access for the unserved residential area of Bay Acres. I commend the City of Douglas and its partners who have tirelessly worked to make this groundbreaking possible.”
“We are pleased to have worked with EPA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development, the State of Arizona and local officials so that this community can continue treating its wastewater properly,” stated Mr. Hinojosa. “The continued support of Congress is vital to the Bank’s mission, so I want to personally thank Congresswoman McSally for her support.”
The project will be funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDARD), the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona and EPA through the Border Environment Infrastructure Fund administered by NADB. The project’s US$7.48 million EPA grant covered almost 40 percent of the total project cost.
“EPA is proud to partner with the State of Arizona, USDA, and NADBank to bring tangible benefits to the City of Douglas and Bay Acres Colonia,” said Torres, “These federal and state funding resources help make critical water infrastructure projects a reality at lower costs to the communities where they are needed most.”
The project is expected to provide access to wastewater collection services for 342 existing homes, including the installation of household wastewater connections to 100 percent of the existing homes in the project area, and improve wastewater treatment service for 100 percent of the system’s wastewater connections.