WOZNIAK ANNOUNCES NEARLY $8 MILLION IN STATE FUNDING HARRISBURG, October 29, 2007 - - State Sen. John Wozniak (D-Johnstown) today announced $7.75 million in state funding to improve and upgrade local waterlines and sewage plants. “These funds will immediately impact our region and help prevent water outages and water main breaks in the aging pipe systems,” Wozniak said. “It is imperative that the state continues to fund programs like this that impact the safety and well-being of all Pennsylvanians.” The Wallaceton Municipal Authority, in Clearfield County, will receive a $769,417 grant and a $2,819,283 low-interest loan. In connection with the PA American Water Company, this allocation will fund the replacement of 31,000 feet of distribution and transmission lines and the rehabilitation of the finished water storage tank. Three projects in Cambria County were among the loan recipients announced by the PENNVEST (Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority) board. The Municipal Authority of the Borough of Cresson received a loan of $2,370,000 to replace 20,000 linear feet of deteriorated water lines throughout the borough; the Borough of Lilly received an $895,000 PENNVEST loan to replace 8,000 linear feet of waterlines in the downtown problem areas of the system; and the Ebensburg sewage treatment plant received a $900,000 loan to upgrade and expand its operations from 1.25 million gallons per day to 2.0 million gallons per day. The loans are part of the PENNVEST Drinking Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Loan program. The approved loans will be repaid over 20 years, at an interest rate of 1.274 percent initially, to increase to 2.547 percent after the first five years of amortization. PENNVEST is funded by nearly $2 billion from state appropriations, state bond sales, and federal grants. While helping hundreds of local governments take on clean water projects, PENNVEST funding has also generated thousands of construction jobs and helped maintain thousands more. # # #