$6 billion Environmental Cleanup projects among those helping stimulate counties

The National Association of Counties (NACo) released an update of “New Projects” being undertaken by member counties with Recovery Act dollars.

Two road-improvement and -widening projects were announced in Santa Cruz County and San Bernardino County, California. The Santa Cruz public works officials said they’ll be receiving nearly a million dollars to improve the condition of 41st Avenue and that its part of the $5.8 million that the State of California has designated for “quick and easy transportation projects.”

The San Bernardino County Board of Governors voted to use the entire $79 million allocation of stimulus funds to help complete the 215 Freeway widening project. According to NACo, the regional group in charge of the project is known as SANBAG and is one of only three projects in Southern California to get state discretionary funds. An additional $49 million is expected towards the four-year $431 million project to add a traffic lane and carpool lane between the 215 and 210 Freeway.

The two jobs in California are expected to produce over 8,000 jobs, with the bulk of them to be created under the San Bernardino project.

Two other energy-related projects also were highlighted in the NACo report. Cattaraugus County, New York and Aiken County, South Carolina will receive money announced for “Environmental Cleanup.” Both projects will require construction and engineering firms, expected to yield 3,200 jobs in the short-term. A storage system to contain nuclear waste canisters will garner about $74 million under the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York. Meanwhile the U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu announced that the Savannah River Site will receive more than $1.6 billion for various projects over the next two and half years.

Similar cleanup projects will be funded in twelve states, including Washington, Tennessee, Idaho, New Mexico, Ohio, Nevada, California, Utah, Kentucky and Illinois. “These investments will put Americans to work while cleaning up contamination from the cold war era,” said Secretary Chu. “It reflects our commitment to future generations as well as to help local economies get moving again.”