The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is marking a major milestone: The agency has awarded a total of more than $1 billion in grants for water and wastewater infrastructure in counties that are recovering from Hurricane Helene.
Gov. Josh Stein made the announcement Friday during a visit to Burnsville, which is receiving $18 million for a new pump system, wells and a sewer line.
Across western North Carolina, 98% of all water systems damaged by Helene have been restored, according to Stein’s office. But communities still need more than $750 million in additional water infrastructure repairs, the governor said.
“We know as a state government we can’t do it alone,” Stein said at an event with DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “We know as towns and communities that Burnsville and Yancey County can’t do it alone. We know as people, residents of this county and region cannot do it alone. We need federal support.”
Stein urged members of Congress to approve an additional $10 billion in federal funding for Helene recovery. He noted that a supplemental spending request the White House sent to Congress last month includes billions of dollars in funding for the Iran war but no additional Helene funding.
“We need the government not to forget western North Carolina, and I will do everything in my power to make sure they do not,” he said.
Wilson said over 90% of the more than $1 billion his department has spent so far has gone toward repairs of local wastewater, drinking water and septic systems as well as projects aimed at rebuilding water infrastructure to be more resilient to future storms.
The spending has funded a total of 222 projects in 28 counties, he said.
“We have been very busy all across mountain communities,” Wilson said. “And we all saw in the wake of the storm, and we’ve heard this morning, how bad the damage was. And it’s just a reminder how critical it is and how one of the most urgent needs there is after a storm like this is to ensure that people have a safe drinking water supply and that wastewater systems function so we don’t have pollution going into our streams, rivers and lakes.”
