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Oklahoma legislature approves $14M in ARPA funding to upgrade Inola’s wastewater infrastructure

INOLA, Okla. — A joint project between Tulsa Ports and the town of Inola in Rogers County is a about to get a $14-million dollar boost.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma State Senate and House approved a bill that, if signed by Governor Kevin Stitt, would allocate American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to the town and the Tulsa Port of Inola.

The Tulsa Port of Inola, which submitted the application for the funding, is planning to build a new wastewater treatment plant in hopes of luring additional manufacturing plants to the Tulsa Port of Inola’s industrial park.

“We own 2,200 acres what we’re calling the Tulsa Port of Inola,” said Tulsa Port’s Andrew Ralston. “This is kind of the next 50 years for us.”

Tulsa Ports, which also owns the Port of Catoosa, said they’re starting over again to develop the area as an industrial park and inland port.

While the barge slip along the Verdigris River has yet to be developed, Ralston, who oversees economic development for Tulsa Ports, said their focus right now at the Tulsa Port of Inola is developing rail and truck modes of transportation.

Sofidel America built a 1.8-million square foot manufacturing plant in the industrial park back in 2020. Ralston hopes the addition of a wastewater treatment plant will attract more businesses.

“The wastewater treatment plant could support the development that could develop this park up to approximately 12 thousand jobs in the future,” he remarked.

The Tulsa Port of Inola has also secured more than $22 million dollars from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to build the new wastewater treatment plant.

Rogers County Commissioner Ron Burrows said that addition will be a game changer when it comes to attracting new businesses to the industrial park.

“Not having a wastewater plant already in design or in construction really canceled us from moving forward, so this should get us over that hump,” Burrows explained during an interview via Zoom on Thursday.

He said they’ve lost out on other big industry due to not having a wastewater treatment plant.

The additional $14 million dollars in ARPA funding from the state will allow the Inola to upgrade its aging wastewater infrastructure, and connect to the new wastewater treatment plant in the industrial park.

“We have a new trunk line that runs through town,” said James Kilpatrick with the Public Works Authority in Inola. “All of our feeders will go to it, it will come here, and then a new line will be put into the port facility, which will just bring it here and turn it out to the port.”

FOX23 visited a lift station in Inola which collects waste, a good example of some of the infrastructure that needs to be replaced according to Kilpatrick.

“It is rotted pipes, deteriorating concrete, it is in bad shape” he said. “It needs replaced.”

“All the plumbing going to it needs [to be] replaced which means digging everything up and replacing with all new pipe,” Kilpatrick added.

The upgrades to the wastewater infrastructure will also help the Inola satisfy a DEQ Consent Order, according to Diana Dickinson, the Public Information Officer for Rogers County.

The order, which was filed in 2016, was related to unpermitted discharges from its wastewater collection system.

While Kilpatrick said that issue has been resolved, the Inola is still working with the DEQ on issues pertaining to its aging wastewater infrastructure.

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