White House to honor mayor

West Monroe Mayor Dave Norris will be honored at the White House on Wednesday as a Champion of Change as the catalyst for the city's new

$20 million wastewater treatment plant that will relieve pressure from the distressed Sparta aquifer.

Norris, who will be one of 11 people recognized as a Champions of Change, and his wife, Biddy, traveled to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

"It's really an exciting opportunity to showcase the city and call attention to the people who made the project happen," Norris said. "I'm just kind of the point person to recognize them."

The $20 million Sparta reuse project, which was funded with federal, state and local money, converts wastewater to the Environmental Protection Agency's drinking-water standards. It's set to go online as soon as April.

Ultimately, the plant will provide as many as 10 million gallons of water daily to Graphic Packaging, which currently draws that much from the aquifer as its largest user.

"I was just naive enough not to know that you couldn't take wastewater and convert it to clean water," said Norris, who will also tour the White House for the first time before the ceremony. "It was really our partners who were the brains behind making the project a reality."

In addition to the funding sources, Norris noted John Stamber, vice president of Energy Ventures Analysis, West Monroe environmental quality engineer Terri Emory, Lazenby & Associates engineering firm, Ford, Bacon & Davis engineering firm and West Ouachita Sewer District No. 5 as partners critical to the project's success.

The Champions of Change program recognizes local leaders for creating jobs and using innovative techniques to improve the country's infrastructure with funding assistance from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama's Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector is highlighted and groups of champions ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community leaders are recognized for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their communities.

"These American heroes are creating jobs today by investing in tomorrow, putting men and women back to work rebuilding America's infrastructure," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "We appreciate their extraordinary efforts to connect people who need their jobs back with the jobs that our communities and economy need done."

Once the project reaches capacity, it will save about 60 percent of the total daily overdraw on the Sparta, the primary source of drinking water for 16 north Louisiana parishes, namely, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Richland, Sabine, Union, Webster and Winn.

"I really do hope I can point to this as an example of technology that can be applied to other sites around the country," Norris said.

Source: http://thenewsstar.com/article/20120215/NEWS01/202150326/1002/rss01

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