Puerto Rico, through a settlement with the U.S. federal government, has agreed to upgrade and improve its Stormwater infrastructure in the San Juan city and area.
Critical upgrades are needed due to the 6 million gallons of untreated sewage that is now released daily into local waterways and the Atlantic Ocean.
The upgrades will cost around 77 million dollars with further penalty fines if the work is not carried out on schedule.
Water Technology Online reports:
“These structural and operational improvements to the storm water infrastructure are critical and desperately needed for the public health and well-being of San Juan’s residents,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
“These legal agreements will drive water quality improvements and protect the health of the people of Puerto Rico,” added Judith A. Enck, regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in the release.”
There are high hopes that this work will end the further discharge of pollutants and sewage into all the water bodies surrounding San Juan.
Here at Inframanage.com, we have previously covered the drought conditions in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico has also recently been in the news with governmental debt issues.
When finances are tight it is always a temptation for governments to defer necessary infrastructure expenditure.
This provides short-term financial gain, usually at the cost of longer-term increased infrastructure expenditure and service delivery challenges.
It will be interesting to see over the next 18-24 months how Puerto Rico manages these challenges.
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