On April 28, 2011, Fall River Students attended a special school assembly and were joined by Local, State and National Officials in a 2011 Earth Day Celebration. They honored their village’s new wastewater regionalization project, which was recently selected by USDA as a National 2011 Earth Day Project. When completed, the enhanced system will provide adequate wastewater treatment to the Village of Fall River; now and into the future; by preventing untreated seepage from the system into area ground water, nearby creek, and the Crawfish River.
The event included a formal program where USDA Wisconsin Rural Development State Director, Stan Gruszynski, presented the Village of Fall River with a National Earth Day Award, and announced that the Village had been approved for a $6.4 million Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant combination from USDA Rural Development. Funds will be used to upgrade and regionalize the village’s wastewater treatment system. Attendees were also treated to a performance by the Students, who sang Earth Day songs to kick-off the event.
USDA Rural Utilities Deputy Administrator Jessica Zufolo from Washington, D.C., also spoke to the students and acknowledged the positive impact that this project will have on the community and its residents by protecting ground water and reducing contamination to the nearby Crawfish River. When completed, the new system will help to eliminate untreated run off and improve the overall health and safety of the water supply.
As a part of the celebration, Fall River School students participated in various environmentally conscious activities, including an Logo Drawing Contest for the 2012 USDA Rural Development Wisconsin Earth Day Logo; a “Winning the Future for a Cleaner Environment in your Community” essay contest; a tree planting by students, and a ground breaking ceremony to mark the commencement of the wastewater treatment regionalization project.
To accommodate a growing community and sustain future economic growth, the Village decided to be proactive and move forward with improving the Wastewater Treatment Facility. Consistent with recommendations from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the project is designed with a regionalized approach to achieve the greatest degree of environmental benefit. The project includes the construction of a new regional pump station and 3.7 miles of force main from the Village of Fall River to the City of Columbus.
To learn more about how USDA water programs can benefit your community click here.
