Neal, Blandford officials announce $1 million for water system upgrades

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal joins Blandford Select Board Chair Jackie Coury and Water Commission Chair Brad Curry before the announcement.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter

BLANDFORD — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal joined Blandford Town Administrator Christina Ferrera, Select Board Chair Jacqueline Coury, and Water Commission Chair Brad Curry on July 17 to announce $1.1 million in federal funding for water treatment and distribution system upgrades for the town.

The allocation was made through community project funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Small, Underserved and Disadvantaged Communities Grant program.

Neal said he traveled from Washington, D.C. the night before the announcement to join town officials. He thanked the Blandford officials for their vision in applying for the grant, which he said he found reasonable, worthwhile and one that would have a long-term impact.

Neal said he’s long maintained an interest in Springfield’s water supply and continues to believe that water supply is a governmental responsibility to oversee. “Few issues are as transformative as clean air and clean water, but it comes with an investment. What has done more to increase life expectancy on earth than clean water,” he said, adding as an aside that he’s proud to have attended the first Earth Day as a college student.

Curry said the grant will be used for infrastructure upgrades, system storage, computer and SCADA upgrades and water line replacements. “Some of the water lines date from 1909,” Curry said.

Mike McManus of Wright & Pierce spoke about the plans for additional water storage. He said the storage tanks in Blandford were old and obsolete, with only the ones at the water plant available. The plan is to construct a new water storage tank at the turnpike, a high point in town, that will also be available to the Fire Department. “It will be a good buffer for residents,” he said.

The grant will also help make upgrades at the pumping station, where there has been difficulty replacing parts that will bring higher water pressure to residents. There will also be improvements at the plant as far as water treatment and a new pipeline into the Long Pond water source.

“That $1 million is going to go a long way,” said Coury.

The town is currently using approximately $290,000 of the funding for the installation of a new skid-mounted packaged generator system to assist Safe Drinking Water Act compliance.

Ferrera thanked Neal for helping the town to secure the funding. “For a small rural town like Blandford, investments in water infrastructure are not simply capital projects; they are matters of public health, regulatory compliance, emergency preparedness and basic municipal sustainability,” she said, adding that Blandford is held to the same public health and drinking water standards as larger communities, but with a fraction of the staffing and financial capacity.

“Thank you for your diligence with us in getting the bill,” Curry added.

Under guidelines issued by the Senate and House Appropriations committees, members of Congress requested community project funding for projects in their state for fiscal year 2026.

Requests were limited by federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible nonprofits were permitted to receive funding. This project is one of 15 submitted by Neal.