ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 17, 2006) – Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announces Board of Public Works approval today of a $200,000 state Bay Restoration Fund grant to finance the upgrade of the Town of Mount Airy’s wastewater treatment plant in Carroll County. The Board is comprised of Governor Ehrlich, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp and Comptroller William D. Schaefer.

“Every grant and state loan dollar spent on wastewater treatment are an investment we must make,” Governor Ehrlich said. “They are an essential part of Maryland’s long-standing effort toward reducing 40 percent of the amount of nutrients being discharged to the Bay.”

Excess nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, lead to degraded water quality, which negatively impact the ecology of the Bay and its tributaries.

The project at the Mount Airy wastewater treatment plant will consist of planning and designing for enhanced nutrient removal at the existing facility that will reduce the plant’s total nitrogen removal to a yearly average of 3 milligrams per liter and 0.3 milligrams per liter for phosphorus. That is a 64 percent reduction in nitrogen and an 85 percent decrease in phosphorus to the receiving South Branch of the Patapsco River.

“The Town of Mount Airy is pleased to participate in helping Maryland achieve the nutrient loading goals for the Chesapeake Bay,” said Mount Airy Councilwoman Wendi W. Peters. “We look forward to working with the Maryland Department of the Environment on this important project to complete the necessary upgrades to our wastewater treatment plant.”

The anticipated cost of the design phase of this project is approximately $3.2 million of which 100 percent will be funded through the state’s Bay Restoration Fund.

Design started in March with an anticipated design completion date of May 2007.

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