Aberdeen and Hoquiam are getting a share of $18.7 million in state Department of Ecology grants and loans awarded to southwest Washington “high-priority clean water projects,” according to an agency statement.

City of Aberdeen

Ecology is offering the City of Aberdeen a $400,000 loan and a $400,000 forgivable loan to design improvements for its wastewater treatment facility, whose components date back to the 1950s.

“The proposed improvements will provide adequate capacity for peak flows and improve the reliability and redundancy of the facility,” read the Ecology statement. “The improvements are necessary to prevent overflow events which discharge untreated sewage to the Chehalis estuary.”

The project includes the design of improvements to the headworks and influent pump station, including the installation of new perforated plate screens, washer/compactors and monitoring/control facilities, as well as flood proofing and structural and code compliance upgrades.

City of Hoquiam

Ecology has approved $130,250 in a forgivable loan and a standard loan of the same amount to build a new standalone wastewater pump station.

The Emerson Avenue wastewater treatment facility is a combined stormwater and wastewater pump station. The project involves the construction of a new wastewater pump station facility adjacent to the existing combined facility with new submersible wastewater pumps, piping, appurtenances and controls. The existing facility will be retrofitted for stormwater only, and the control building and backup generator will be used to run both facilities.