FEMA will provide $1.14 M for gas lines

Posted on Tue, Oct. 16, 2007

WAVELAND -- STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Mississippi's two U.S. senators said Monday that Waveland will receive $1.14 million from the federal government to help replace gas lines and distribution equipment damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Waveland gas lines were damaged by saltwater corrosion and uprooted trees. Federal money will pay for pressure testing of the high-pressure main line; repair and capping of existing branches off the main line; re-establishment of easements; and installation of a high-density polyethylene main line, service lines and termination caps, according to a press release.

Mayor Tommy Longo said the funding announcement is good news for a gas line project that is "already about 98 percent complete." The lines will provide natural gas service to hundreds of homes and businesses throughout the city, although a precise number was not available late Monday afternoon.

However, he said, "Many of our homes and almost all of our commercial businesses have some form of gas service. It was our goal for our residents to have heat in their homes this winter, and it looks like we're going to be able to do that."

The money is coming from FEMA, said Republican Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott.

"Our citizens and their cities and counties have worked so hard to rebuild, but federal assistance is still needed," Cochran said in a news release Monday. "Without essential utilities and infrastructure, cities like Waveland cannot completely regain the quality of life and business it once had."


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