Gov. Paul LePage has given the go-ahead to the Department of Environmental Protection to propose a $50 million bond issue to address a nearly $950 million backlog of sewer and water treatment projects.
According to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, the DEP will propose the $50 million bond issue in the January session. DEP Commissioner Paul Mercer told MPBN that the department used the last of the money from a 2009 bond, but that the backlog of projects continues to grow across the state.
“We’re hoping to be able to leverage … this money into a lot federal dollars. If we put in, you know, $50 million, we are looking at 1,000 jobs,” Mercer told MPBN.