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April 20, 2007
House passes $25 Million amendment for Virgin Islands wastewater improvements The U. S. House of Representatives this morning passed a landmark environmental infrastructure bill which includes a five-year $25 million authorization for the wastewater system on St. Thomas and St. Croix, according to Gov. John deJongh, Jr. The Virgin Islands provision was included as part of a $1.5 billion House Manager’s amendment introduced by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minnesota). The V.I. amendment was included at the request of V.I. Delegate Donna Christensen and Governor John deJongh, Jr. The bill passed on a 394-25 vote. "The House decision to include the Virgin Islands amendment is a most welcome development," deJongh said on his return to the territory Friday afternoon. "It will provide over the years much needed federal assistance for the Government’s efforts to upgrade, repair and modernize our aging and vulnerable wastewater system on both Islands, but it will be especially helpful in our efforts to overhaul the wastewater system on St. Croix," the Governor said. "I want to thank Chairman Oberstar and Ranking Minority Committee Member, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) for their support of this amendment. In particular, I want to thank Delegate Christensen for her leadership in getting the amendment to this critical juncture in the legislative process," Governor deJongh said. The Senate Public Works and Environment Committee is working on its own version of the bill, called the "Water Resources Development Act," which is scheduled for action later this Spring. "The Government has made important progress in recent years in improving our wastewater infrastructure, including the construction of four new state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plants on all three islands. But it must be recognized that we still have a long way to go, particularly on St. Croix. Much of our collection and distribution system is almost a half century old and prone to ruptures and breakdowns. It has to be replaced, which will take time and money. This amendment is an important, indeed essential, part of our corrective action plan," deJongh said. |
