FEMA Awards $6,415,688 Grant to City of West Frankfort: Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds will be used to make sewer treatment plant improvements

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today released $6,415,688 in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to the City of West Frankfort, Ill., for aproposed sewer treatment plant improvement project.

The project includes the relocation of all sewer treatment plant components from the south plant site to the north plant site, where it will be three feet above the base flood elevation.

“The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program enables communities to implement critical mitigation measures to reduce the risk of loss of life and property,” said FEMA Region V Administrator Andrew Velasquez III. “The completion of this project will reduce flood damage and lessen the financial impact on individuals and the community when future flooding occurs in this area.”

“This grant supports an important public health and safety project in West Frankfort,” said Jonathon Monken, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. “Flood waters have knocked the current sewer treatment plant out of service in the past, including for more than 200 days in 2008. Moving the facility above the flood elevation will protect the sewage treatment process from future flood-related disruptions.”

HMGP provides grants to state and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures. Through HMGP, FEMA will pay $6,415,688 or 75 percent of the project’s total cost. The City of West Frankfort will contribute 25 percent of the remaining funds, or $2,138,562.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at twitter.com/femaregion5, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at twitter.com/craigatfema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

Media Contact: Cassie Ringsdorf, (312) 408-4455

###