King County projecting $13 million in savings from low-interest loans for wastewater facilities

2005 Archived News

The King County Wastewater Treatment Division expects to save its ratepayers about $13 million in total interest payments on low-interest loans for several facility planning and construction projects. The projected loans are listed in a preliminary draft funding list just released by the state Department of Ecology.

The $11.7 million in loans from the state revolving fund for 2006-2007 will have an annual 1.5 percent interest rate. King County will pay off the loans during the next 20 years.

"This is great news for ratepayers, the environment and public health," said Division Director Don Theiler. "Our partnership with the state in getting these loans will reduce long-term costs for our customers while improving water quality."

King County will use the loans to help pay for upgrading the Vashon Island Treatment Plant and improving sewage screening equipment at the West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle. Other loans will go for planning reductions in combined sewer overflows from Puget Sound outfalls at Barton Street Southwest, Murray Avenue Southwest and North Beach in Seattle.

The Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 18 cities, 16 local sewer agencies and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional public utility has been preventing water pollution for nearly 40 years.