LYNCHBURG, Virginia. – City guides are working to repair a decade-long sewage overflow in Lynchburg.
The project would not only improve water quality, it would also prevent water bills from increasing. Lynchburg already has one of the highest annual sewage rates in the Commonwealth.
The city is calling for emergency aid of $ 50 million from Governor Ralph Northam to fix the problem, which began in the mid-19th century and covered more than 6,000 acres of the city.
The motion is part of a $ 1.4 billion package to end overflows in Lynchburg, Richmond and Alexandria with funds from US Bailout Bill President Joe Biden, signed on March 11th.
Lynchburg, Richmond, and Alexandria are the only three towns in the state with costly mixed water overflow projects ongoing, according to a letter signed by Lynchburg Mayor MaryJane Dolan, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and John Hill, chairman of Alexandria Renew Enterprises, and sent to Northam. was sent last month.
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Lynchburg has already spent about $ 300 million with about $ 50 million left by the time the project is complete.
According to Tim Mitchell, director of the Lynchburg Department of Water Resources, heavy rainfall triggered overflows that dumped raw sewage and rainwater into the James River.
He says Lynchburg removed more than a billion gallons of mixed sewage from centuries-old sewer pipes every year in the 1980s.
“We’re looking for ways to take the pressure off our fee payers and get water quality faster by completing the program sooner,” says Mitchell.
With the money, the city could fix the problem within the next five years. They’ll have an answer to that next month.
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