Stout, Solobay, Harhai Announce $5.3 Million in Pennvest Funds

HARRISBURG, July 20, 2010 - - State Sen. J. Barry Stout and state Reps. Tim Solobay and Ted Harhai today announced more than $5.3 million in PENNVEST state grants.

The city of Monessen received a $5.1 million grant to replace sanitary sewer collector lines along Grand Boulevard. The current sewer system is subject to sewer overflows during wet weather and discharges untreated wastewater into tributaries of the Monongahela River.

Amwell Township received a $229,000 grant to install a new sewage collection system along Waynesburg Road to combat the malfunctions of the current on-lot systems that are contaminating drinking water wells.

“By dedicating state funding to these two hazardous sewer systems, we are showing our commitment to public health and our commitment to a clean environment,” Stout said. “Both of these projects will put some of our friends and neighbors back to work and will improve living conditions for residents of Monessen and Amwell.”

"The Amwell Township project will ensure residents living along Waynesburg Road will have clean, safe drinking water by eliminating on-lot discharges of raw sewage that impact local private drinking wells and Little Ten Mile Creek," Solobay added. "In addition, the project is expected to create 40 local jobs."

The state funded sewer projects will require the creation of 40 jobs in Amwell Township and 12 jobs in Monessen.

The grants were approved today by the board of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) at a meeting in Harrisburg.

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