DEP PROVIDES $4.4 MILLION GRANT FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY IN WALTON COUNTY

Florida DEP Banner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 26, 2014

CONTACT: DEP Press Office, 850-245-2112, DEPNews@dep.state.fl.us 

DEP PROVIDES $4.4-MILLION GRANT FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY IN WALTON COUNTY

~New facility will provide much-needed infrastructure for the region~

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is investing $4.4 million for the construction of a wastewater treatment facility in the Northwest Florida Commerce Park located between Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 90.

In addition to the construction of the wastewater treatment facility, this grant will go to design, permit and construct an extension to the wastewater collection system infrastructure to the park and surrounding Mossy Head area. 

“This infrastructure is necessary to support the new businesses that will occupy the Northwest Florida Commerce Park, and we are happy to be part of this exciting project,” said DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. “This project will have a direct positive impact on Walton County’s economy and the environment.”

“I'm very pleased we were able to secure funding for the Mossy Head Wastewater Treatment Facility in the 2014 state budget,” said Senate President Don Gaetz. “This key infrastructure project will make possible the business development that will bring good jobs to north Walton County.”

“I am pleased that the legislature was able to fund the Mossy Head Wastewater Treatment Facility project,” said Representative Marti Coley. “This project provides necessary infrastructure that is essential for growth and economic development in Walton County. Having infrastructure in place will help Walton County attract new businesses, which in turn will continue to strengthen our economy and provide more jobs.”

“The state’s support for this project will allow Walton County to complete the infrastructure at the Mossy Head Industrial Park site,” said Walton County Public Information Manager Louis Svehla. “This park has become an attractive site for potential businesses to locate, and the completion of the infrastructure will allow the county to expand on the site’s recent procurement of businesses that have currently created 175 new jobs.”

This project includes piping, ultraviolet disinfection systems, mechanical dewatering, an absorption field irrigation system and a utility pump station. The facility is expected to be operational by summer 2017, at which time it will have a capacity of 250,000 gallons per day.

Walton County acquired the property for Northwest Florida Commerce Park about 13 years ago to spur job creation and provide an economic boost to the area. The addition of the wastewater treatment facility will help make the mixed-use commercial and industrial park a more viable place to do business.