Springfield Awarded $526,813 for Sewer-improvement Project

SPRINGFIELD — State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, chair of the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, announced more than $6.7 million in loan-principal forgiveness for 13 communities statewide, including Springfield. The principal-forgiveness funds, administered by the state and funded by the federal government, were awarded on a competitive basis to cities and towns most in need of financial assistance associated with loan payments to the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust. The funds will be used for financing improvements to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.

The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission received a $526,813 award for the CWP-14-27 Dickinson Street siphon/main interceptor rehabilitation
project. The objective of the project is to rehabilitate and extend the lifespan of existing infrastructure and to improve hydraulic capacity which allows for mitigation of structural failure leading to sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events.

Approximately half of Springfield and the surrounding towns of Ludlow and Wilbraham are served by the main interceptor (MI), which runs for approximately 27,200 feet. The MI was built in 1972 and is constructed of 60-inch and 66-inch reinforced concrete pipe. Based on recent inspection, the MI is considered to be in structural distress. The Dickinson Street Siphon feeds a large catchment of flow into the MI. SSOs into the Mill River and neighborhoods have occurred at the siphon during heavy rainfall events. As part of the project, the siphon will be replaced with a large-diameter gravity sewer.

“The Clean Water Trust delivers a critical service to our municipalities by financing water infrastructure projects,” Goldberg said. “Improving water quality presents a range of both public-health and economic benefits for the citizens and communities we represent.”

The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust improves water quality in the Commonwealth through the provision of low-cost capital financing to cities, towns, and other eligible entities, and maintains stewardship of public funds. Because of the reduction of loan principal funded by this program, impacted communities will see their biannual loan payments reduced, freeing up capital for other local needs. The loans were originated to pay for municipal water projects such as upgrades to water-treatment facilities and stormwater and sewer-improvement projects.

“By providing access to low-cost capital, the Clean Water Trust enables communities to make much-needed investments in this critical, yet often-forgotten infrastructure,” said Rachel Madden, undersecretary for the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and designee to the Clean Water Trust board of trustees. “I look forward to working with the Treasurer’s Office, the Department of Environmental Protection, and all other members of the Clean Water Trust on similar projects in the future.”