Minnesota Clean Water Legacy grants will help clean up McLeod County’s soil and water by providing assistance for households with failing septic systems.

According to Matt Drewitz with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, the grants are a new state offering. Minnesota typically has offered loans, not grants, to help upgrade septic systems.

McLeod County has $52,000 in grant money to distribute to low-income households whose septic systems are failing or present an imminent health threat. This can include:
• straight-pipe systems, which feed directly into a tile line or ditch,
• septics that are backing up into the house, or
• septic systems with old-fashioned unsealed tanks or cesspools.

Applicants must pay a $30 application fee and provide proof of gross household income. Grants will cover 60 percent, up to $6,000, of the total cost to replace a septic system.

“And if they can’t come up with the other 40 percent,” said McLeod County environmental technician Mary Creech, “they can look into our low-interest loans, depending on where they are in the county.”

For more information about the Clean Water Legacy grants, call Creech at (320) 864-1259.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)