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EPA Clears $640M in WIFIA Loans for $1.3B Oregon Water Project

August 21, 2019

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved two new loans, totaling $640 million, for a major water-supply infrastructure program in western Oregon.

The loan approvals, announced on Aug. 19, are part of EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or WIFIA, program and will help finance the $1.3-billion, multi-year Willamette Water Supply System program.

The project will include seismic protections, to make the infrastructure more resilient.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) said in a statement, "In Northwest Oregon, it is a question of when, not if, a Cascadia earthquake will affect our region's infrastructure." She is referring to the Cascadia fault, located off the Pacific coast and runs about 621 mi., from northern Vancouver Island, B.C., to northern California.