WASHINGTON, DC – Three hundred thousand dollars is headed Ahoskie’s way.

On Thursday, the United States Senate approved the 2010 Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which includes $600,000 in funding secured by Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) for wastewater treatment infrastructure in Ahoskie and Greenville. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) cosponsored the funding for Greenville.

The two eastern North Carolina towns will each receive $300,000.

“This funding is critical for public health in Greenville and Ahoskie,” Hagan said. “This investment in improving wastewater infrastructure will spur economic development and growth in the region.”

The Town of Ahoskie will receive $300,000 to repair its existing wastewater reuse transmission lines and expand its treatment facility. The appropriations funding will be used to construct a reuse water transmission line from the town to local manufacturing facilities, reducing demand on local aquifers. The project will also reduce Ahoskie’s need to discharge wastewater locally and provide water resources to local industries to reduce costs.

Ahoskie Mayor Linda Blackburn said the town learned of this possible funding source during a recent trip to Washington to visit with North Carolina’s congressional delegation.

“We had this $300,000 budgeted within our Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion project,” Mayor Blackburn said. “We are pleased to now receive the official news that the 2010 Appropriations Act was approved by the Senate. We appreciate the efforts of Senator Hagan, who we visited during our DC trip. She’s new on Capitol Hill, but she has hit the ground running.”

Blackburn added that the $300,000 is earmarked to be used only in certain ways in regards to wastewater.

“Any money we receive to this project helps us as we continue in our effort to upgrade our wastewater system in order for Ahoskie to grow,” Blackburn noted.

Ahoskie’s Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion project, valued at $16 million, is already underway at the town-owned facility located on the Johnny Mitchell Road. It will nearly double Ahoskie’s wastewater treatment capacity, now at 901,000 gallons per day with an increase to 1.6 million gallons per day.

The project is scheduled for completion by Jan. 25, 2011.

The City of Greenville will also receive $300,000 to extend water and wastewater service to the LandsEast Industrial Park in Pitt and Martin counties. As the state’s first certified multi-county/multi-regional industrial park, this site has the potential to attract a variety of industries due to its location, access to markets and transportation. The funding will help supply essential water and wastewater services to a currently underserved area, which will allow for economic development and job creation.

The Senate bill will now be reconciled with a version passed by the House of Representatives before being sent to President Obama for his signature.