MidHudsonNews reports: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $2 million grant to the Village of Woodridge for the construction of a new wastewater plant.  The total project cost is $8 million.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey’s office worked closely with village and EPA officials to facilitate the grant.

In June 2007, Hinchey secured $1 million in grant funding for the project through the USDA Rural Development and subsequently worked with the village and EPA officials to obtain the additional federal funding needed to offset the costs of the new facility.  The village has also been offered an interest-free loan on the balance of the funding through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation and has applied for additional assistance through federal economic recovery funding.

The Village of Woodridge is currently under a Consent Order from the DEC to construct a new wastewater treatment facility to replace the current wastewater system that has failed.  The current system was constructed in 1982.

Village of Woodridge Mayor Ivan Katz thanked Hinchey for his work, saying, “It’s an understatement to say that it would be difficult for a small village like ours to shoulder the full costs of building a new plant, particularly with the economy as bad as it is.  The EPA funding and the prior grant award from USDA will greatly lessen the financial strain of bringing a new plant online, and I know that having Congressman Hinchey advocating for us at every step of this process made those grants possible.”