The community has received a major boost — $10 million in federal support — toward the cost of adding a disinfection system for the wastewater treatment plant discharge that flows into Zimovia Strait.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office reported that the money for Wrangell was included in a spending bill approved by the Senate on Jan. 15 and on its way to the president for signature into law.

The $38.6 billion appropriations bill, which passed the House a week earlier, pays for “targeted discretionary spending” through the Department of Interior, along with science, energy, water, parks and environmental projects, according to a prepared statement by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Murkowski is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and chair of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee.

The bill passed with overwhelming support — 397-28 in the House and 82-15 in the Senate — though it was almost four months behind schedule. The funding is for the federal fiscal year that started Oct. 1.

Alaska’s other members of Congress — Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich — voted in favor of the bill.

The borough is still trying to figure out what kind of disinfection system makes more sense for Wrangell — adding chlorine to the treated wastewater or running the flow through ultraviolet light to kill bacteria. The start of construction could be a couple of years away.

Whichever system officials choose, the community has until 2030 to come into compliance with tighter rules under its federal discharge permit.

“There are pros and cons no matter which way we go,” Public Works Director Tom Wetor said. A UV system uses a fair amount of electricity, and while the chlorine system is cheaper day to day it requires a carefully calibrated mechanical system to add the chemical to the effluent flow.

The borough will not have cost estimates for construction or operation until it settles on a disinfection method and goes to design.

Wetor said a tentative timeline would have the project finish final design in 2027, then bids and a start of construction late 2027 or early 2028.

Most likely, the project would include building an addition to the treatment plant to accommodate the additional equipment, he said. The plant is uphill from Zimovia Highway, roughly across from City Park.

The Environmental Protection Agency renewed Wrangell’s wastewater discharge permit in November 2024 — along with permits for Haines, Skagway, Sitka, Ketchikan and Petersburg — requiring the communities to reduce the levels of bacteria discharged into marine waters.

Borough officials immediately asked Murkowski for $10 million in federal aid to help cover the cost of the improvements.

Wrangell and its five Southeast neighbors are among 24 municipalities in the United States granted waivers by the EPA for a lower level of treatment of their wastewater because the communities discharge into deep marine waters.

The updated discharge permits issued in 2024 for the six Southeast communities incorporate state water quality standards that were tightened in 2017.

In addition to the money for Wrangell, the budget bill includes almost $30 million for other sewer and wastewater projects in Southeast: $5.12 million to upgrade the sewer system in Hoonah; $6 million to upgrade the Charcoal Point wastewater treatment plant in Ketchikan; $8 million to complete planning and engineering for a new wastewater treatment plant in Petersburg; and $10 million for design and construction of a new wastewater disinfection system in Sitka.