San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 7, 2003 -- The North American Development Bank (NADB) has signed a US$1.44 million grant agreement with the Marathon Water Supply & Sewer Service Corporation.
The grant funds, made available through the Bank's Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), will help finance the water and wastewater improvements project in the community of Marathon, Texas.
"We are pleased to sign this $1.44 million BEIF grant with the Marathon Water Supply and Sewer Service Corporation," stated Raúl Rodríguez, NADB Managing Director. "Expansion of the systems will ensure water and wastewater service coverage to all of the community's residents."
The community of Marathon is an unincorporated area in Brewster County, Texas, approximately 55 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It is located on US Highway 90 between the cities of Sanderson and Alpine. The Corporation has undertaken a US$1.95 million project that will expand and improve its water and wastewater systems in two phases.
The first phase, which has already been completed, consisted of decommissioning the facultative pond and replacing it with a new 2.22-acre pond. The second phase of the project includes expanding the wastewater treatment plant from treating 28,000 gallons per day to 200,000 gallons per day, changing the treatment process, and constructing a stabilization pond and a storage pond. In addition, the project will install 36 residential wastewater connections and extend water mains to connect 19 residences to the water system.
"Without this grant assistance, our town would not have the resources to implement a water and wastewater improvements project," commented Steve Houston, President of the Board for the Marathon Water Supply and Sewer Service Corporation. "On behalf of the residents of Marathon, I'd like to thank the NADB for signing this $1.44 million grant with us."
Through its BEIF program, the NADB has approved more than US$481.6 million in EPA-funded grants to support the construction of environmental infrastructure in various communities, which will benefit residents on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Since its inception in 1995, the NADB has approved more than US$629 million in loans and grants for 69 infrastructure projects in the region.
For more information on the NADB, visit www.nadb.org.
The North American Development Bank, created under the auspices of NAFTA, is a financial institution established and capitalized in equal parts by the United States and Mexico for the purpose of financing environmental infrastructure projects along their common border. As a pioneer institution in its field, the Bank is working to develop integrated, sustainable and fiscally responsible projects with broad community support in a framework of close cooperation and coordination between Mexico and the United States.
