Hancock port receives grant to help with well and tank project

Port Bienville and Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission has been awarded a $2.2 million grant by the state Department of Environmental Quality for the the port’s well and tank project.

The $4.5 million project, which will be located on Webre Road near Calgon Carbon, will provide a new well with a proposed rate of 1,500 gallons per minor and a tank capacity of 500,000 gallons, more than doubling the existing capacity and water services for Port Bienville.

It also will add redundancy to the 30-year-old existing system that currently services the port with a rate of 750 gallons per minute with a tank capacity of 250,000 gallons. The present system has hampered industry expansions, fire ratings and opportunities for new industry.

In addition to the grant, another $2.2 million will come from a local match by the Board of Supervisors from the American Rescue Plan Act, which provides funds to help recover from the pandemic.