The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has committed nearly $9 million to water and wastewater infrastructure in St. John’s and Labrador City

Federal, provincial, and municipal representatives were on hand to make the announcements of funding in the respective cities. Graham Letto, Parliamentary Secretary for Natural Resources and MHA for Labrador West that $3.3 million has been allocated to improve wastewater treatment in Labrador City. Parliamentary Secretary Letto was joined at the announcement by Yvonne Jones, Member of Parliament for Labrador, and Fabian Benoit, Deputy Mayor of Labrador City.

“We are extremely excited about this announcement. These funds will help bring our Drake Wastewater Treatment Plant up to 2020 standards. It will upgrade the primary treatment process, improve the remote monitoring process, and have a potential cost savings in capital expenditure,” said Wayne Button, Mayor of Labrador City in a statement. “It just goes to show that when we all work together on the municipal, provincial and federal level we can achieve anything.”

The total project funding through the Small Communities Fund will be used for upgrades to the Drake Wastewater Treatment Plant in Labrador City. The Provincial Government will contribute $1.2 million, the federal share is up to $1.1 million and the Town of Labrador City will contribute nearly $1 million.

In St. John’s, representatives announced infrastructure investments of more than $17 million in joint federal-provincial-municipal funding to improve water and wastewater systems and provide flood mitigation in St. John’s.

The funding will be used for improvements to the Windsor Lake Water Treatment Plant; the extensive rehabilitation and replacement of sewer, storm and water mains in downtown St. John’s; and the construction of a retaining wall and berm along the Rennies River.

“Investing in high-quality water and wastewater infrastructure is an essential part of building livable, healthy communities. The Government of Canada also knows that we must protect our communities against the effects of climate change,” said Nick Whalen, Member of Parliament for St. John’s East, at the announcement. “We are proud to work with Newfoundland and Labrador, and the City of St. John’s, to support improvements to water and wastewater services, and to ensure residents have a safe environment to live, work and raise their families.”

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is contributing approximately $7.7 million through the Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component – National Regional Projects of the federal New Building Canada Fund. The Federal Government is contributing up to $5.6 million, while the City of St. John’s will make up the remainder of the funding at close to $8.5 million.

These upgrades will assist in reducing future maintenance costs and will provide more reliable delivery of clean drinking water to residents and businesses. The improvements will also reduce potential water main leaks and limit overflow into the harbour in St. John’s.

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