Environment DEC
From the July 2009 issue
Funds for Clean-Water Infrastructure
Proposed wastewater infrastructure projects will create more than 1,000 jobs
Adequate and sustainable wastewater infrastructure is critical to a community's environmental quality, public health and economic vitality. Twenty-two communities across the state will be awarded $130 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) fund for the construction of water treatment plants and the installation of sewer system upgrades.
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis said, "For more than 40 years, New York has made tremendous progress in improving water quality, but many facilities throughout the state have now outlived their useful life expectancy. If we are going to continue our success and protect the gains we have made, our water infrastructure needs support for projects that restore and rebuild."
Currently approved projects will create an estimated 1,300 jobs throughout the state in many communities that have been deeply affected by the current recession. These positions will include construction, mining and professional opportunities, such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, heavy-equipment operators, engineers, steel miners and manufacturers, as well as legal jobs, high-tech jobs and plant operators.
