Hoeven SenWASHINGTON  (CSi)   – Senator John Hoeven Tuesday announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will provide $3.9 million pursuant to a congressional appropriation to upgrade the LaMoure sanitary sewer system. The Corps included the LaMoure project in its Fiscal Year 2016 work plan, which it released today. Hoeven serves on the Energy and Water Appropriations Committee where he worked to include funding for projects like LaMoure.

Hoeven says, “The City of LaMoure has been working hard to deal with the effects of an aging sanitary sewer system, and I have been working with the Corps to match their work with a federal commitment to upgrade the entire system.  I’m pleased that the Corps of Engineers will address the project in 2016. This project will provide a significant infrastructure upgrade that will last for years to come.”

The City of LaMoure currently uses a sanitary sewer system that uses clay pipes that date to the 1930s and 1940s. High levels of ground water along the James River often force the city to bypass the system and pump sewage directly into the environment. The year-end appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2016 included $55 million for sewer systems and other water development infrastructure projects, a $5 million increase over the 2015 budget.  As a member of the Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee, the senator worked to ensure that the Corps allocate some of this money for the LaMoure sanitary sewer system.

heitkamp_LegacySenator Heidi Heitkamp adds, “Across North Dakota, cities like LaMoure face undue water infrastructure challenges because they are working with outdated systems made worse by flood waters that spill into their sewage systems – but today, the LaMoure community is finally getting the investment it needs to make changes.  For years I’ve been pressing the Army Corps to provide LaMoure families and businesses with infrastructure support that’s long overdue – and that persistence finally paid off.