Underground Construction - July 2022 - 11

cleanup work at the inactive Gold King Mine
site in southwestern Colorado. It sent a brightyellow
plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy
metals south to New Mexico, through the
Navajo Nation and eventually into Lake Powell in
Utah via the San Juan and Animas rivers.
Water utilities were forced to scramble and
shut down intake valves while farmers stopped
drawing from the rivers as the contaminants
moved downstream.
Under the New Mexico agreement, the
federal government will make cash payments
for response costs, environmental restoration
and eff orts to mitigate the negative perceptions
about the area's rivers following the spill. Money
also will go toward water quality monitoring and
cleanup activities.
The state also received $11 million in damages
from the mining companies, and the case against
the federal contractors involved is pending.
Vermont OKs $104 Million
Budget for Water
Infrastructure Projects
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has signed an
$8.1 billion state budget into law that delegates
$104 million to water, sewer and stormwater
infrastructure projects.
Scott said the historic levels of federal aid and
state surpluses presented a " once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity " and said he was grateful to the
Legislature.
The fund was designed to support
workforce development, housing, economic
development, broadband and eff orts to mitigate
climate change. It includes $66 million to
train and recruit more workers; $96 million for
broadband; $104 million in water, sewer and
stormwater infrastructure and $40 million in tax
relief, Scott said.
LA Wastewater Tunnel Project
Receives $441 Million
Federal Loan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has awarded a $441 million loan to Los Angeles
County to replace a pair of aging wastewater
tunnels that are at risk of failure during severe
storms and earthquakes.
The Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan will be used to
combine the two outfall tunnels into one new,
18-foot diameter, 7-mile-long tunnel designed
to current seismic standards. The completed
tunnel will have a greater capacity for high
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UCONonline.com | JULY 2022
11
fl ows than the existing tunnels.
The existing tunnels - built in 1937 and 1958
- are responsible for carrying effl uent from the
sanitation districts' largest wastewater treatment
plant but are beyond their useful life and do not
meet current seismic standards, according to
the EPA. The agency warned that if the tunnels
fail in the event of a storm or earthquake,
the treatment plant might need to discharge
sewage into surrounding waterways
The EPA estimates that Los Angeles County
will save about $76 million by fi nancing with
the WIFIA loan. Construction is expected to be
completed in 2027. UC
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