Published: September 19, 2008 08:29 am      

Towns of Friendsville, Midland to benefit from Bay Restoration grants

CUMBERLAND — Earlier than expected, the Maryland Board of Public Works approved Chesapeake Bay Restoration grants to Garrett and Allegany counties totaling $1.08 million.

“It’s nice to see this end of the state getting some of that funding back,” Linda Lindsey, Garrett County Department of Public Utilities director, said.

Garrett County will receive $300,000 from the Bay Restoration Fund, which is supplied with revenue from the Bay Restoration Tax that has been an issue with many in the county as most water in Garrett County does not flow into the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Monty Pagenhardt, county administrator, said he was surprised to see the funding come to Garrett. He said that while the state said the Bay Restoration money would go toward sewer projects, the county hadn’t anticipated seeing the money west of the Chesapeake watershed so soon.

The funding in Garrett County will go toward the first phase in the town of Friendsville to rehabilitate and replace portions of the sewage collection system to reduce the amount of inflow and infiltration, which has diminished the available capacity of Friendsville’s wastewater treatment plant.

Lindsey said the funding was originally to come from the Maryland Department of the Environment to a project on Keysers Ridge, but when that project was halted, the money was to be transferred to Friendsville. The $300,000 remains the same amount anticipated, but will instead come specifically from the restoration fund.

The town of Lonaconing water system will receive $780,000 from the Bay Restoration Fund for capital construction projects to replace the water mains within the distribution system for the town of Midland.

According to John Winner, Lonaconing town clerk, the funding will go toward replacing the old lines in the water system in Midland, which Lonaconing operates. He said when this is completed, there will be relatively new lines throughout Midland.

The current galvanized and cast iron piping suffers from tuburculation, the formation of small mounds of corrosion products that roughen the inside of the pipe and increase resistance to the water flow inside.

Other funding for the project has come through Community Development Block Grants and the Maryland Department of the Environment.

“Water is one of our most precious resources,” Gov. Martin O’Malley said in a released statement. “Improving drinking water and wastewater treatment is a priority for Maryland and all of our towns and cities. These projects are critical components of the statewide effort to protect Maryland’s drinking water and improve wastewater treatment.”

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.