Ohio EPA gives Bellville $141,635 low-interest loan for wastewater system

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) recently provided a $141,635 low-interest-rate loan to Bellville for wastewater infrastructure improvements through the Waster Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF), saving the city approximately $30,000 on conventional loan rates.

Bellville will use the funding to improve its wastewater treatment plant and pump station, reducing its water quality impact on Clear Fork, which flows into the Mohican River. Specifically, the city will construct baffles within clarifiers and improve an existing aerobic digester with a mixing system. Bellville will also replace the Greenbriar Lift Station.

The WPCLF was created in 1989 and has allowed various entities to improve water quality through funding wastewater treatment system improvements and home sewage system upgrades, promoting agricultural best management practices as well as storm water projects and even closing landfills.

The loans are funded by federal grants, loan repayments and bond investments, and they are administered through the Ohio EPA’s Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance and the Ohio Water Development Authority. The Ohio EPA provides technical assistance throughout the projects’ development and implementation, while the Water Development Authority manages the fund’s finances. The WPCLF also provides for the state’s Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program.