Delegation Calls for Federal Infrastructure Assistance for Minot

Press Release

Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven and Congressman Rick Berg today pressed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to strongly consider the city of Minot's request for federal assistance to expand and extend its sanitary sewer system south of the city.

In letters to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy and Acting Chief of Engineers Major General Merdith W.B. Temple, the delegation called for aid from the Corps of Engineers' Section 594 program to expand and extend its sanitary sewer system. That expansion would not only address ongoing system failure issues, but it would allow for future housing development, which is critical in the wake of this year's record flooding.

"As you begin to allocate funding included in the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act, we request that you provide sufficient funding for North Dakota's ongoing Section 594 environmental infrastructure program to assist with a critical sanitary sewer system project in the city of Minot," the delegation wrote. "This infrastructure project is a key building block of the city's long-term disaster recovery effort, and we urge you to provide funds for it within those allocated for environmental infrastructure projects in FY12."

The delegation noted that the city has requested federal support to cover the majority of the estimated $11 million total project cost. Should FY12 funds be allocated to the St. Paul District for environmental infrastructure, the District has conveyed to Headquarters that Minot's project would be its top priority.

The delegation has spoken with officials at Corps Headquarters and the Assistant Secretary's office on several occasions in recent weeks about the Minot project.

The Corps has 45 days from the time the appropriations bill was signed into law to submit its spend plan, which would be in early February.

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