DENVER – FEMA has announced an award of more than $5.1 million to the Town of Plains, Montana. The funds are the federal cost share for a mitigation project to relocate the community’s wastewater treatment plant. The plant is at risk of failure in a 10-year flood event.
The existing plant has four lagoons and an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system; new lagoons and an ultraviolet disinfection system will be installed at the new site. The new facility will be on a 10-acre property outside of the floodplain. Relocating the facility will help ensure a safe water supply for the community and avoid discharge of untreated water.
The FEMA grant accounts for 89 percent of the total cost of the $5.7 million project. Funding is provided through FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program, which is designed to assist states, U.S. territories, federally-recognized tribes, and local communities in implementing a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program. The goal is to reduce overall risk to the population and structures from future hazard events, while also reducing reliance on federal funding in future disasters.
Additional information about FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program can be found at https://www.fema.gov/pre-disaster-mitigation-grant-program.