Midwest City receives $1.81M for wastewater plant pollution study

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

Midwest City will continue efforts to reduce pollution from its wastewater treatment facility with funding from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.

City leaders last week approved a resolution authorizing up to $1.81 million in indebtedness as part of a 100% principal forgiveness loan through the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

The funding will support Phase 2 of a study examining whether the Midwest City Water Resources Recovery Facility is a source of microplastics and identifying treatment process modifications to reduce environmental discharge. The loan carries no repayment obligation for the city.

Assistant Public Works Director Carrie Evenson told trustees the project builds on an ongoing master plan study evaluating the facility’s long-term treatment capacity and operational needs.

“Parts of the master plan are already underway, looking at our overall treatment capacity, both liquid and solid,” Evenson said. “From that work, there will be recommendations on how we modify our treatment process, not only to address microplastics, but to plan for the next 20 years out to 2045.”

Phase 2 funding will allow the city to move toward design work once the study is completed. Evenson said the current master plan is expected to take approximately six more months. After that, staff will coordinate with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality before beginning design.

“Once we have final recommendations on how to improve our treatment process, this funding can go toward the design,” she said, noting that design and construction could take several years due to the complexity of wastewater treatment systems.

City officials emphasized that both this loan and a previously approved loan are fully forgivable.

“It says ‘indebtedness,’ but they forgive them,” Evenson said.

Officials added that any future construction funding needs will depend on the study’s recommendations, but the loan allows the city to move forward without immediate financial impact.

“This is a wonderful opportunity,” said Paul Streets, public works director. “This is loan-forgiveness money, which means we will not be out of pocket. It helps us continue our efforts to find solutions for the Water Resources Recovery Facility.”

The resolution approving the loan and associated documents passed unanimously.