Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC’s) Wastewater Program today announced $3.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) awards to help municipalities and businesses improve their wastewater quality through removing pollutants early in the process, and ensuring adequate capacity for wastewater treatment. This is the second round of funding that will be used to install and upgrade wastewater treatment infrastructure at businesses in Vermont.
“Investing in municipal wastewater infrastructure has many benefits, including economic development opportunities, increasing housing capacity and more,” said Governor Scott. “My team will continue to support these critical infrastructure improvements that will benefit Vermonters for years to come.”
Industrial wastewater, like wastewater produced by metal finishers or beverage manufacturers, may contain a significant amount of nutrients or organic matter, and in some cases, could be considered toxic or high strength. Pretreatment, which means addressing wastewater pollution early in the process, ensures that harmful pollutants in wastewater can be removed or reduced before they enter municipal wastewater treatment facilities. Proper wastewater management allows municipalities to reserve a facility’s capacity for future development and growth in that community.
“Treating high strength or toxic wastewater poses challenges for our municipal wastewater treatment facilities,” said DEC Commissioner Jason Batchelder. “Investing in wastewater pretreatment will help us cut pollution and better protect our environment and human health.”
DEC is proposing to fund eight potential awardees. Municipalities will pass funds on to businesses to install or improve their wastewater pretreatment infrastructure.
The eight potential awardees include:
- City of Burlington – Edlund Company, LLC – Chittenden County – $342,125
- Edward Farrar Utility District – Freak Folk Bier – Washington County – $23,896
- Town of Fairfax – Runamok Maple – Franklin County – $424,660
- Town of Lyndon – Ellipsis, Inc. – Caledonia County – $502,889
- Town of Middlebury – Agri-Mark, Inc. – Addison County – $623,288
- Town of Middlebury – WhistlePig Whiskey – Addison County – $130,645
- Town of Stowe – Stowe Cider – Lamoille County – $408,595
- Town of Williston – Burlington Beer Company – Chittenden County – $850,000
Learn more about the ANR ARPA wastewater pretreatment initiative.
