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| 7/9/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Tribe nets $900K stimulus
Hope Nealson
Journal Staff Writer
The Ute Mountain Ute tribe will receive $902,080 in stimulus funds for cleaner water.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Indian Health Service announced Wednesday that more than $9.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will go to improve access to drinking water and wastewater services in 12 sovereign nations in the EPA's Mountain and Plains region, also known as Region 8, which includes Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming boundaries.
Shovel-ready projects designed to help repair and upgrade water and drinking water infrastructure like wastewater lagoon systems, sewer lines, water tanks and pipes were selected for the funds.
"These resources will protect public health, improve water quality and help create jobs," said Carol Rushin, the EPA's acting regional administrator in Denver.
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe was allocated $902,080 specifically for its lagoon, which processes wastewater.
"The lagoon was showing signs of seepage, and they're going to repair the cells and remove some of the dry mud and sewage," said Minnie Adams, a spokesperson for the EPA.
Adams said the money will be given for two projects, $606,250 to repair seepage and $295,830 to repair another seepage site and expand the lagoon.
"It's great news to hear," said Ernest House Jr., executive secretary for the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs and a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. "This funding is coming really quickly."
House Jr. said his office met with the Ute tribes in March to let them know about stimulus funding options and offer their services and support.
"We will have a recovery act team to monitor, review and make sure all the funding that comes into our end is accounted for and goes to the specific committees," he said.
House Jr. said they will present an updated report of the total stimulus, or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, funds received at September's Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs quarterly meeting in Ignacio.
These projects are part of $90 million signed into law by President Barack Obama in February. The EPA and IHS are designating part of the money for infrastructure projects designed to better protect human and environmental health in Indian Country and to create jobs.
To see how every dollar is being invested, visit www.recovery.gov.
Reach Hope Nealson at hopen@cortezjournal.com.
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