The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District entered into a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) with the City of Morton, Mississippi, on Nov. 9 as part of the Mississippi Environmental Infrastructure Program (Section 592). For the city of Morton, Mayor Gerald Keeton, Sr. signed the PPA, and Col. Christopher Klein, Vicksburg District commander, signed for USACE. The signing ceremony was held at Morton City Hall.

“Congress’ generous investment with the bipartisan infrastructure law injects much needed funding into projects that directly benefit citizens and business in cities across our state,” said Col. Klein. “We are thankful to be a part of such an enormous investment in the water infrastructure of Morton.

The city of Morton’s project for water system improvements has a total project cost of $2,266,666.66.The project will include the design and construction of low-pressure force mains for sewer system expansion. The cost share agreements will be 75% federally funded and 25% non-federally funded. The Section 592 Program provides environmental assistance to non-federal interests in Mississippi. Assistance may be in the form of design and construction assistance for water-related environmental infrastructure and resource protection and development projects in Mississippi. This includes projects for wastewater treatment and related facilities, elimination or control of combined sewer overflow, water supply and related facilities, environmental restoration, and surface water resource protection and development. Assistance may be provided only for projects that are publicly owned and the non-federal interest must enter into a written cost share agreement to furnish its required cooperation for the project.

The USACE Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that holds nine major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The Vicksburg District is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.