DEC clears Wasilla wastewater upgrades sought with $6 million loan

Wasilla's wastewater treatment plant will gain capacity to handle domestic sewage and septic tank solids. The state cleared the upgrade project from further environmental review this week.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation's State Revolving Fund Program issued a categorical exclusion for the project Wednesday in Anchorage, finding it eligible under state regulation. The determination took effect on distribution. It can be revoked at any time adverse information is made available.

The City of Wasilla has requested a $6 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan for the work. The notice does not state the project's total cost. The work will add digestors, required piping and a shared operational facility housing new blowers and dewatering equipment at the plant. It is co-funded with federal Congressionally Directed Spending appropriations granted to the city. It follows a separate $1.5 million state capital investment the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development approved for broader Wasilla water and wastewater system upgrades. The Environmental Protection Agency completed its own categorical exclusion for the infrastructure improvements on March 28, 2024.

Among the criteria the department cited, the notice states the project "Will not significantly affect the degree of treatment or capacity of the existing facility." That language sits alongside the project's stated purpose of improving treatment capacity, a tension the notice does not address. The notice also found no effect on cultural resources or threatened and endangered species habitat, and said the project "will not cause significant public controversy." The retrieved record contains no evidence of broad public outreach or local community comment beyond standard notice procedures.

In its determination, the department wrote: "Accordingly, the Department is exempting the project from further environmental review requirements under the Department\’s EPA-approved State Environmental Review Process."

Residents and ratepayers depend on the plant for sewage treatment. The financing package shapes service reliability and potentially future utility rates as loan funds are repaid or matched. Other Alaska communities have used the same tools. The department granted a similar categorical exclusion in June for the Parkdown Estates Water Rehabilitation project in Anchorage, reviewed under the state's drinking water loan program.

The plant has been under separate regulatory review. The department issued a Section 401 water quality certification in July 2024 for proposed dredge and fill discharges into wetlands draining to an unnamed tributary of Cook Inlet, identified in the state notice as Cottonwood Creek. Related activity was planned from Aug. 15, 2024, through June 30, 2025.