Westmorland, CA, Oct. 25, 2002 -- A crowd of Westmorland citizens gathered recently at the City Park to celebrate the completion of a water project and a wastewater project.
City and state officials were on hand at the dedication ceremony which officially opened the city's water and wastewater projects, as were officials from the North American Development Bank (NADB), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the United States Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD).
The NADB provided the city of Westmorland with $1.98 million in grant assistance for improvement and expansion of its wastewater treatment plant. These funds are made available through the Bank's EPA-funded Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF). Other funding sources for the project included a loan and a grant from USDA-RD and a grant from the State of California Water Resources Control Board.
"We are very grateful to have received the level of grant participation that we did for the expansion of the wastewater treatment facilities," said Joel Hamby, Executive Director of Westmorland Public Works. "The completion of this project puts us in an excellent position to accommodate the growth we will have over the next 20 years."
The plant's treatment capacity was significantly expanded, from 375,000 gallons per day (gpd) to 500,000 gpd. Improvements also include the elimination of open-air treatment ponds, as well as installation of an effluent disinfection system. These enhancements will accommodate future growth, and will significantly increase the quality of effluent from the plant.
"The completion of this wastewater project in Westmorland signifies another important milestone for NADB project development," said Juan Antonio Flores, NADB Public Relations and Governmental Affairs Officer. "In working with communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, the NADB's goal is to dedicate financial and human capital in the most effective way to move the particular project into reality."
The bank's current loan and grant portfolio exceeds $450 million with commitments for 52 projects that will enhance the quality of life for more than 6 million residents of the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Established in 1997, the BEIF is a grant program administered by the NADB to fund and facilitate environmental infrastructure projects throughout the U.S.-Mexico border region. EPA provided an initial contribution of $170 million for water and wastewater projects with an additional $166 million added to the fund by EPA in the past three years.
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.
