Officials revealed earlier this month that Bulloch County will receive $20 million from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, or GEFA, and direct it toward two separate projects: water and sewer system improvements at the local airport and “expansion of sewer infrastructure on the south end of the county.”

That wording is from a letter to the county’s state legislative delegation – Sen. Billy Hickman, Rep. Jon Burns, who happens to be the state House speaker, Rep. Lehman Franklin and Rep. Butch Parrish – in appreciation for support of the funding.

“We are grateful for the $20 million investment in water and wastewater projects through the State of Georgia’s GEFA program,” the letter began.

The letter’s second paragraph invoked cooperation with Bryan County in regard to a sewer project in southern Bulloch. The passage also noted the existence of a previous grant, from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, for one aspect of that project.

“This work is closely tied to the new Bryan County Regional Wastewater Plant located adjacent to the Daniel Defense facility,” the letter stated. “An agreement exists between Bryan County and Bulloch County for the purchase of 250,000 gallons of capacity. An EPA grant of nearly $4 million, secured last year, has been approved for that purpose.”

Septic services

The proposed first use of that sewer treatment capacity will allow commercial haulers of septic sludge from Bulloch County’s many residential septic tanks to “be able to immediately access the new facility” in Bryan County.

A study performed about a year ago previously informed the commissioners of a lack of nearby places for haulers to dispose of the waste, and some septic system operators urged the county to do something about it.

“This would help provide sewer access and a facility to where those septic trucks would dump,” Bulloch County Manager Chris Eldridge said last week.

I-16 corridor sewers

But after the septic haulers get access, “engineering will begin” on a Bulloch County “connection to Bryan County’s pump station on Highway 80,” the letter states.

Then the letter refers to state and county officials having discussed last winter that “this connection will enable service along the Interstate 16 corridor, particularly at the exits at Highway 119, Ash Branch and Highway 67.”

By providing sewer service at these exits, the county could “hopefully generate some commercial development there,” Eldridge said to the commissioners.