San Luis, Campesinos apply for federal grant

If approved, $20M grant would expand wastewater treatment plant, construct new building

SAN LUIS, Ariz. – The San Luis City Council and Campesinos Sin Fronteras (CSF) will jointly apply for a federal grant for two projects that will benefit residents in environmental matters.

The $20 million grant they will request from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide $15 million for the municipal project to expand the wastewater treatment plant and $5 million for the construction of a building for Campesinos Sin Fronteras on César Chávez Boulevard.

The funds, to be used over three years, come from the EPA’S Community Change Grants Program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Armando Esparza, the city’s Economic Development Director, told the council members that the goals of the grant are to improve climate resilience, minimize pollution, and ensure community participation in this decision-making process with the nonprofit organization and the governments.

“For our application, we will present a project with Campesinos Sin Fronteras to build the community resilience center. From the city’s side, we will submit a funding application for the expansion of the West wastewater treatment plant, and we will work together over the next three years if it is approved,” he commented.

Emma Torres, executive director of CSF, noted in a later interview that the grant application is expected to be submitted before the end of the month.

“The application will be submitted soon to start the approval process. It is a beautiful vision of coming together to address the community’s needs with our project of a building that will also serve as a shelter in environmental or climate emergencies and as an Environmental Education Center,” she said.

The building, a project which was presented in November, on land would south of be César located Chávez Boulevard between 6th and 7th Avenues. It would feature a center to develop community education programs on topics such as heat stress, water conservation, and chronic disease prevention, among others.

These efforts would be supported by the operation of the Radio Sin Fronteras station, whose studio would be relocated to this building, added Torres.

Additionally, the building would be designated as a shelter for climate contingencies or power outages in the community.

The city will be the primary applicant and CSF will be the statutory partner.

The wastewater treatment plant expansion project would meet the second grant requirement, which is pollution reduction. “This type of project is specifically identified in the funding opportunity when it comes to cleaning up waste and ensuring that the water can be reused, also considering the climate action strategy,” Esparza pointed out in his presentation. Last week, the council approved a contract for the design of the treatment plant expansion and for construction supervision. After approving the collaboration, Mayor Nieves Riedel applauded the initiative: “We couldn’t have chosen a better partner than Campesinos Sin Fronteras; they are resilient, they keep moving forward, and they show great interest in the well-being of our community, especially our farmworkers,” she commented.