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Energy plans sap sewer cash

Clean water and effective sewage treatment are serious, immediate environmental concerns for tens of millions of Americans in rural areas and small towns where funds for such purposes are limited. Trumbull County quite possibly is the poster child for this grave environmental concern.

Yet President Barack Obama, supported by the Environmental Protection Agency, wants to slash federal funding for water and sewer projects.

U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., confronted EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy about the issue during a House of Representatives committee hearing. Asked by McKinley whether she supports Obama’s priorities, including $581 million in cuts to clean water and sewer projects, McCarthy replied, ”I certainly do.”

Here in Trumbull County, thousands of properties are connected to faulty septic systems. In some cases, human waste is flushed directly into water tributaries.

The county has made great strides in correcting this problem, having spent tens of millions of dollars to obtain state and federal matching grants to eliminate about 20 percent of its septic systems. It will eventually take hundreds of millions of dollars more to replace all the septic systems.

In the meantime, property owners continue to spend tens of thousands of dollars each to bring their septic systems into compliance. In some cases, because property values are so low, especially without sewers, it’s more feasible for property owners to walk away from their houses rather than replace the septic systems.

As Trumbull continues to make progress in this environmental and financial disaster, the White House is eager to throw away billions of dollars in subsidies for ”alternative” energy projects and climate change initiatives. McCarthy insisted such spending should take priority over clean water and sewer programs. She tried to blame Congress for restricting government spending.

Killing even one or two big ”alternative” energy subsidies would fund the water and sewer program fully. That is what Congress should insist Obama do.

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