AUGUSTA, Maine - The Department of Environmental Protection will propose a $50 million bond issue in the January session to address a growing backlog of sewer and water treatment projects statewide.
Gov. Paul LePage has given the green light to the Department of Environmental Protection to propose a $50 million bond issue in the January session to address the growing backlog of sewer and water treatment projects.
DEP Commissioner Paul Mercer says the need is state wide. “We’re hoping to be able to leverage, you know, this money into a lot federal dollars. If we put in, you know, $50 million, we are looking at 1,000 jobs.”
Mercer says the agency has used the last money from a 2009 bond, and says the backlog of projects across the state is now pegged at nearly $950 million. He says DEP is developing a plan to maximize matching funds so the $50 million would be leveraged to bring in another $150 million.
Finance Commissioner Richard Rosen says it’s the first part of a comprehensive bond package that will be proposed in January as part of the two-year state budget.
