Marion Township supervisors have secured about $4.1 million in state funding for an overhaul of the wastewater system throughout the village of Boyers.

Announced Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority awarded the township $2.7 million in grant funding and about $1.4 million in a low-interest loan to install a new wastewater treatment plant and more than 15,000 feet of sewer lines.

Jason McBride, supervisor chairman, said the project would not otherwise have been possible.

“It came down to funding,” he said.

McBride said the current lagoon system used to be managed by a community co-op, but responsibility for the system was transferred to the township by the Butler County Court of Common Pleas.

In 2016, the township took over the current system, which uses pond-like basins to receive, hold and treat wastewater, and with it came issues of neglected infrastructure, which had not been serviced since the 1970s.

“We have a sewage failure rate in the 80th percentile,” McBride said.

State Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, and state Rep. Tim Bonner, R-8th, said a new system also will alleviate environmental concerns raised by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“There were environmental concerns for Slippery Rock Creek as to leakage into the creek from the sewer system in that area,” Bonner said. “This will certainly go a long way into improving the environmental issues as well as providing financial help to the residents of the community.”

Hutchinson said the funding, especially from grants, will help in many ways.

“This funding should expedite the process and ease the financial burden that otherwise would have fallen on ratepayers,” he said.

McBride said township supervisors have had a good experience working with the DEP, state legislators and county officials throughout the process. He said the supervisors plan to speak further with county officials on additional grant funding to reduce the loan needed.

“We're hoping to be able to fund this and keep the cost within the service area,” he said.

McBride said the township has been working with the EADS Group, an engineering firm in Clarion, to develop an Act 537 Sewage Plan. He said the project is currently in the permitting stage.

“We're installing a completely new house-to-curb-to-treatment facility, a completely new facility,” he said.

McBride said initial plans are to directly replace the lagoon system with a modern system that would still only serve the area around the village of Boyers, affecting about 150 households.

But, he said, with a modern system comes new possibilities to later extend the sewage network further into the township, if needed.

“That is something we're going to pursue as time and funding become available,” McBride said. “We're hoping to be able to do that.”