Washington, DC – Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner supported final passage of the FY 2010 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which provides funding for the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the United States Forest Service. The measure passed last night on a bipartisan vote of 77 to 21, and will now go to conference committee with the House of Representatives.

At the request of Senators Webb and Warner, the measure designates $300,000 to expand a wastewater project in the Caroline County community of Dawn, which has no public or central wastewater disposal service. The expansion will more than double the number of households served, from 180 to 370 households. The bill also includes $300,000 to continue the reconstruction of the 40-year-old wastewater treatment plant serving residents of the Town of Onancock. The reconstructed system will go from 250,000 gallons per day to 750,000 gallons per day, and will employ state of the art pollution removal technology.

“The funding secured today is critical for Caroline County and the town of Onancock to perform necessary wastewater management and maintain a safe water supply for these communities,” said Senator Webb.

“These smart investments will pay significant dividends in improving public health and quality-of-life in Caroline County and the Town of Onancock, while also sharply reducing nutrient discharges into the Chesapeake Bay,” Senator Warner said.

In addition, Senator Warner also joined Maryland Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin in requesting $1.2 million in funding to continue an upgrade at the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant, which serves over two million people in the District, southern Maryland and northern Virginia, and handles one-fifth of the Chesapeake Bay’s total point source flow. Because of its immense size, these improvements at the Blue Plains plant are expected to result in the single largest gain in nutrient reduction in the entire Bay watershed.

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