Rural Maine communities to get $22M for water and sewer system upgrades

More than $22 million in new federal financing will go to make water and sewer system upgrades in rural Maine, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday.

The funding is part of a $5.2 billion infrastructure investment by the USDA in rural parts of 46 states and Puerto Rico.

The Rumford-Mexico Sewerage District will get a loan of $10.8 million and a grant of $8.8 million for upgrades to the main wastewater treatment facility and the Dix Avenue Pump Station.

The Mexico Water District will receive a loan of $2.5 million to improve the facilities that serve the high-pressure zone along the Harlow Hill Road and Backkingdom Road, as well as several other streets in Mexico.

Meanwhile, the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments is receiving a grant of $77,900 that will be used to provide technical assistance to towns in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford. The goal is to reduce the amount of toxicity of waste and to improve the local and regional solid waste systems.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, joined USDA Rural Development’s new state director, Rhiannon Hampson, in making the announcement.

“This critical investment in upgrading Maine’s aging infrastructure goes hand in hand with ensuring that our valuable natural resources are protected,” Hampson said. The announcement marks “one more step that we are taking to ensure that Maine people have access to properly working water and wastewater systems, which improves the quality of life in our rural communities, but also helps to mitigate the effects of climate change for future generations.”

The announcement follows the November passage of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill. Last week, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted 359 investments the department is making in seven programs designed to help rural Americans access high-speed internet, clean water and dependable electric power.