The Lena Village Board on Feb. 17 began pursuing $3.4 million in financing needed for a project to reduce radium in the village’s water system.
The village closed Well No. 1 last year under an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources, which found the well’s output exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for radium.
The village has been using Well No. 2 since closing No. 1, but the DNR requires municipalities to have at least two wells that operate in compliance with water quality standards.
To meet the requirement, the village proposes to pipe water from Well No. 1 to a new water treatment plant on village-owned land on Rosera Street.
Well No. 2 also will be tied into the new plant to allow treatment of its output should that ever become necessary, said Craig Schuh, an engineer with Ayers Associates, the village’s consulting engineers.
The village is seeking construction approval for the project from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and the Department of Natural Resources. Meanwhile, the village is having a rate study completed to determine if higher rates will be needed to finance the project’s loan, said Elizabeth Runge, a planner with Ayers Associates.
The board is seeking interim financing for the radium project from Firstmerit Bank’s Lena branch at .75 percent interest beginning March 11 through November, Village Clerk Charlene Meier said.
The board is also pursuing a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, Runge said.
A public hearing on the grant application is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 27.
The grant application will be submitted after the hearing, and Runge anticipates a response from the DOA within a month.
The village will then seek the rest of the funds it needs from the state’s Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, which issues low-interest, long-term financing to public entities needing water system improvements.
If everything goes as planned, construction should begin this spring, according to Ayers engineers.
The DNR gave Lena until July 1, 2015, to complete its radium reduction project, a deadline Schuh said should be easily met.
Radium is a radioactive element contained in many rock formations, usually in small amounts, according to a DNR brochure. Long-term exposure to high levels of radium in drinking water may result in increased risk of bone cancer, as radium accumulates in bones like calcium.
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