On Wednesday, June 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) closed on a WIFIA loan with the City of Omaha, NE, which is the second loan made through the program. EPA issued a $69.7 million loan to Omaha to help finance its Saddle Creek Retention Treatment Basin. Omaha expects to save up to $20 million by financing the project with a WIFIA loan and create 165 jobs.
During wet weather events, the combined sewer system in the Saddle Creek Basin fills with stormwater and overflows, sending millions of gallons of polluted runoff and sewage into the Little Papillion Creek, a tributary of the Missouri River. When the Saddle Creek Combined Sewer Overflow Retention Treatment Basin is completed in 2022, it will collect and treat up to 320 million gallons of wastewater and stormwater daily that would have spilled into the creek during wet weather. This represents a nearly 90 percent cut in local water pollution and a significant public health and environmental protection achievement.
The project has an estimated construction cost of $93 to $103 million. The overall project is estimated to cost $142.2 million and EPA’s WIFIA loan will help finance nearly half of the project’s eligible costs, including study, design, construction administration, inspection, material testing, land acquisition, and construction costs. Because the WIFIA program offers loans with low, fixed interest rates, EPA’s loan is expected to save the City of Omaha up to $20 million. Project construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2019 and will create 165 construction jobs.
