Oct. 11, 2002 – If a bill approved Thursday by the House Appropriations Committee successfully makes its way through both houses of Congress, the territory will get $500,000 to help with its wastewater treatment woes.
The money would come from the Environmental Protection Agency, Brian Modeste, an aide to Delegate Donna M. Christensen, said. It's included in a spending bill for the federal Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development along with various independent agencies including the EPA.
The bill calls for the territory to get the same amount of money as last year, even though there is less funding available to parcel out now, Modeste said.
Under a consent decree entered in District Court in 1984 and amended in 1996, the government was to bring its sewage treatment system into compliance with federal standards by 2004. This deadline was extended in August until Feb 28, 2006, for St. Croix and Feb. 28, 2007, for St. Thomas.
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