The Town of Stephenville, in partnership with the Provincial Government, will construct a protective berm in the identified Flood Control Area as an added measure of protection for properties in the possible event of future flooding. The funding will be available through the 2007-08 Municipal Capital Works Program.

The Honourable Jack Byrne, Minister of Municipal Affairs, today announced an investment of $238,000 towards this cost-shared initiative. The Town of Stephenville has been actively upgrading and redeveloping municipal infrastructure and flood mitigation methods as a result of the flooding of September 2005. The berm will be an earthen structure, constructed from local compacted fill, and will aid in stopping rising water levels from reaching the homes and buildings, if a similar situation to that of the 2005 flood should arise.

"Our government continues to support the rebuilding of Stephenville�s infrastructure, as well as the development of mitigation plans like this protective berm," said Minister Byrne. "The damage caused by the rising waters at Stephenville was some of the worst we�ve seen in our province and this project is an effective approach to stop floodwaters from damaging properties in the future."

On March 3, 2006, the Provincial Government first announced its plan to respond to the flooding that occurred in Stephenville, an event that devastated the area and put hundreds of residents out of their homes. To date, between federal and provincial funding sources, approximately $26 million has been contributed to municipal infrastructure, and individual, municipal and small business claims in Stephenville.

"Employing new techniques to mitigate damage that may be caused by future flood waters through the construction of a protective berm, is an important project for Stephenville," says Minister Joan Burke, MHA for the District of St. George�s�Stephenville East. "Much progress has been made and I commend my colleague, Minister Byrne, for his unrelenting focus on the recovery and continuous rebuilding efforts of the Town of Stephenville and area."

This most recent project is part of the Department of Municipal Affairs 2007-08 Municipal Capital Work Program, valued at $34.2 million. Notably, 93 per cent of the program�s investment capital is used for rural municipalities around the province. As a cost-shared program, Municipal Capital Works supports municipal initiatives in water and sewer, roads, recreation and fire equipment infrastructure.

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Media contact:
Heather MacLean
Director of Communications
Department of Municipal Affairs
709-729-1983, 690-2498
heathermaclean@gov.nl.ca

2007 06 22                                                    10:30 a.m.