Federal funds secured for new Easton water well

Easton, Md. – On Monday, local, state and federal officials came together to mark the groundbreaking for Easton Utilities’ new drinking water well and pump house.

Rep. Andy Harris (R – MD Congressional District 1) met with local leaders after securing $2.62 million in federal Community Project Funding.

“Without this grant, our 7,000 water customers would have seen an increase of about $40 a year on their utility bills to pay for the cost of this project,” Easton Utilities CEO John Horner Jr. said. He also said he was looking forward to working with the U.S. Army Crop of Engineers Baltimore District to complete the project.

Harris said the funding adds support for smaller, rural municipalities that usually cannot afford projects that would bring new water to the surface or treat water up to higher standards.

“It’s making sure that the rural, the people who live in a rural area have the same clean water, the same sanitation as a person who lives in a larger jurisdiction,” he said.

For local leaders, this represents a milestone in how state and federal legislators are advocating for smaller towns on the Eastern Shore.

“Oftentimes, you know, when you’re looking at the seats around a table, it’s the big communities, the cities that get a lot of the attention, a lot of the dollars,” Easton Mayor Megan MacLennan Cook said. “It’s nice to have some attention on the Eastern Shore and know that we have a voice. It’s important.”