The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will receive $2,594,000 in federal funding to pay for rehabilitation and upgrade work to the Elkmont Waste Water System.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the Trump Administration had approved $256 million in construction and upgrade projects for national parks.
As the most-visited park in the NPS, the Smokies were specifically mentioned in the news release for needing dire maintenance it had proposed for the aging Elkmont Waste Water System and Treatment Plant.
The $256 million is much needed, cutting the total funding needed for the NPS backlog by roughly 2.5 percent.
“Today’s announcement is another step toward eliminating the more than $11 billion in maintenance facing the National Park Service," U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said. "It’s another step toward prioritizing infrastructure because it is an investment that bolsters local economies and gateway communities."
United States Senator Lamar Alexander said the U.S. Department of the Interior’s fiscal year 2018 spending plan will “finally end the discussion about building the North Shore Road in the Smokies.”
“During his two visits to the Smokies during the last year, Secretary Zinke has made clear his commitment to restoring our national parks. This plan includes $35 million for settlement payments for the North Shore Road in the Smokies -- this is a long overdue payment to the residents of Swain County based on a promise made 75 years ago,” Alexander said. “Equally important, it should finally end the discussion about whether to build the North Shore Road, which is impractical today because of environmental concerns and enormous cost. The spending plan also includes $2.5 million to rehabilitate the Elkmont Waste Water System, which is one of the Park’s visitors’ favorite campground spots.”
The GSMNP has a maintenance backlog of nearly $215 million. The park is receiving $2.6 million for specific upgrades to modernize and proved sustainable the Elkmont Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was originally built in 1959 and has exceeded its expected service life according to the GSMNP.
The plant serves the Elkmont Developed Area, including the Elkmont Campground and nearby facilities. Treated liquid waste from the plant currently discharges into the Little River downstream from the campground as authorized by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
In May, the park invited the public to comment on a draft of the environmental assessment for the proposed upgrades. The assessment listed three alternatives, with the preferred method being to upgrade the plant and install a land-based, subsurface waste dispersal system to minimize the environmental impact.
The other alternatives were to just upgrade the plant without the dispersal system, or a "No Action Alternative" that would have built a basis for comparing environmental impacts.
In March, the DOI announced the Secretary’s partnership with Congress on a bipartisan bill to address rebuild and repair National Park Service infrastructure.