FEMA awards grant to upgrade flooded Iowa plant

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded a $15.68m grant to upgrade Iowa’s Water Pollution Control plant, which was flooded by a tropical storm in September.

The state and city government will provide an additional $2.09m and $3.2m each towards the $21m upgrade project, under FEMA’s flood mitigation programme.

The grant will be used to upgrade the plant to protect it from future flooding, reports thegazette.com.

The news comes after months of fighting between the FEMA and City Hall over some $50 million in disaster funds.

The facility will be equipped with flood walls, earthen berms and pumping equipment to treat discharge and storm water.

The upgrade is expected to be complete in 2014.