Water and Wastewater Construction Loans Awarded

Nashville, Tenn. – Governor Phil Bredesen has announced that four communities and two utility districts will receive low-interest loans totaling more than $24 million through the State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan Program to fund much-needed water and wastewater construction projects. The Department of Environment and Conservation administers the SRF Loan Program for the State of Tennessee.

SRF loan recipients, whose loan amounts and projects are detailed below, include Benton and Decatur Counties, the Reelfoot and Sewanee Utility Districts, and the cities of Kingsport and Lenoir City, Tenn.

“I am always pleased to see local governments accessing this important program,” said Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke. “Community investments in our drinking water and wastewater systems are vital to maintaining environmental and public health. These loans will help keep our communities moving forward.”

The SRF Loan Program provides low-interest loans that help communities, utility districts, and water and wastewater authorities finance projects that protect Tennessee’s ground and surface waters and public health. Loans are used to finance the planning, design, and construction of water and wastewater facilities. Through this program, communities, utility districts and water and wastewater authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than most can obtain through private financing. Interest rates for the loans can vary from zero percent to market rate based on each community’s economic index.

The funding order of projects is determined by the SRF Loan Program’s Priority Ranking Lists that rank potential projects according to the severity of their pollution and/or compliance problems or for the protection of public health. Environment and Conservation administers the SRF Loan Program in conjunction with the Tennessee Local Development Authority. Through 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided seed money for the SRF Loan Program, and the state provided matching funds.

SRF Wastewater Loans were announced today for the following recipients:

• Benton County – A $500,000 increase to an existing 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.47% for constructing a new 100,000 gallon per day (gpd) lagoon wastewater treatment plant and wastewater collection system to serve commercial businesses in the Benton-Decatur Special Sewer District.
• Decatur County – A $500,000 increase to an existing 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.47% for constructing a new 100,000 gpd lagoon wastewater treatment plant and wastewater collection system to serve commercial businesses in the Benton-Decatur Special Sewer District.
• Kingsport (Sullivan County) – A $20 million 20-year loan with an interest rate of 3.14% for wastewater treatment plant Improvements, including upgrading the headworks, grit removal system, trickling filter, intermediate basin, aeration basin, final clarifiers, solids treatment system, and waste pump station and constructing a new clarifier on the existing site.
• Lenoir City (Loudon County) – A $1,150,000 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.6% for wastewater treatment plant improvements to provide secondary treatment (sludge dewatering).

SRF Drinking Water Loans were announced today for the following recipients:

• Reelfoot Utility District, Lake County- A $190,850 loan increase to an existing 20-year loan with an interest rate of zero percent (0%) for the construction of a new 100,000-gallon water storage tank and water distribution lines to loop the system for hydraulic efficiency and to maintain adequate water pressure.
• Sewanee Utility District, Marion and Franklin Counties – A $2,127,000, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.22% for the Water Treatment Plant expansion from 600,000 gpd to 850,000 gpd and the construction of raw water intake improvements at Lake O’Donnell and Jackson Lake

Since its inception in 1987, Tennessee’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded over $800 million in low-interest loans. Since its inception in 1996, Tennessee’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded over $105 million in low-interest loans. Both programs combined award approximately $75 million annually to Tennessee’s local governments for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.

Any local government interested in the SRF Loan Program should contact the State Revolving Fund Loan Program, 8th Floor, L&C Tower, 401 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37243, or call (615) 532-0445. Information about SRF Loan Program may be found online at www.tdec.net/srf.

For more information contact:

Dana Coleman
Office (615) 253-1916