WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon today announced that St. Bernard Parish will receive $5,227,728.94 in federal disaster aid grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The grants will reimburse the Parish for infrastructure recovery costs following Hurricane Katrina.

(Please see the final report of the Katrina Task Force for more details)

The following grants were announced today for St. Bernard Parish: 

• $2,793,092.49 to repair the Dravo Wastewater Treatment Plant (St. Bernard Parish). Hurricane Katrina's high winds and flooding caused damage to the St. Bernard Parish’s Wastewater Treatment Plant with ten to twenty feet of floodwater surge.  Due to flooding and deposition of debris, mud and sediment throughout the wastewater treatment plant, overall damages include damage to structure and electrical system including all motors, motor control centers (MCCs), MCC walk-in enclosures, meter enclosures, power distribution equipment, power distribution walk-in enclosure, transformers, panel boards, wiring, cables, generators, remote and local control panels and disconnects.  All conduits and wiring were flooded. The Dravo Wastewater Treatment Plant was constructed in 1966. It has a daily treatment capacity of 1.5 million gallons.  
• $2,434,636.45 to repair the Violet Wastewater Treatment Plant (St. Bernard Parish). Hurricane Katrina produced heavy winds and a storm surge that caused flooding throughout the Parish.  The Wastewater Treatment Plant was flooded to a depth of eleven to fifteen feet with some process equipment submerged for several days, causing catastrophic infrastructure damage.  The facility sustained damages to the buildings, electrical and mechanical equipment, lab contents, process equipment and systems, pumps, exterior lighting, and fence.  The grant reimburses costs for the repair, replacement, or removal of select building elements and plant equipment, cleaning, painting, and replacement of lab contents, and demolition. The Administration and Operation Building has an overall enclosed area 14,036 square feet (SF).  Attached to this building is a chlorine handling and metering area with an exterior wall area of 1,752 SF and interior wall area of 2,031 SF.