Talladega Water and Sewer Board and City of Lincoln Announce Partnership To Provide Water Supply to New Honda Facility

    LINCOLN, Ala., March 23 The Talladega Water and Sewer
Board and the City of Lincoln announce their partnership to supply a minimum
of 150 million gallons of water per year to the new Honda manufacturing
facility.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010323/ATF008 )
    "This is a good example of regional cooperation.  The Talladega Water and
Sewer Board and the City of Lincoln are working together to improve the water
delivery infrastructure to meet the water needs of the new Honda facility and
the community," said James Corby, Chairman of the Talladega Water and Sewer
Board.  "We are confident that we have a more than ample water supply to meet
not only the complete needs of the new Honda facility in Talladega County, but
also to meet any anticipated growth in demand in this area for the foreseeable
future."
    "This is a win, win, win situation for the communities of Lincoln,
Talladega and for the new Honda facility," said City of Lincoln Mayor Lew
Watson.  "I couldn't be more pleased to see how everyone has worked together
on this project.  This joint venture will benefit future generations and have
a significant impact on the economic growth of the area.  This is the largest
water project in the history of Lincoln," said Watson.
    "The City of Lincoln and the Talladega Water and Sewer Board worked hard
to create a clean, reliable water source for Honda," said Andy Ritter, Senior
Manager, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama.  "We are very pleased to see the
benefits that this kind of partnering can have in the community."
    The Talladega surface water system uses water from Talladega Creek, which
is really a series of creeks in the area.  A surface water filtration system
is designed to remove contaminates and other impurities found in the water
source. The filtered water then goes through a purification process.  The
Talladega system complies with the strictest guidelines as mandated by the US
Environmental Protection Agency and the Alabama Department of Environmental
Management.  To supply the Honda facility, Talladega will route water to the
City of Lincoln, which in turn will route it to the manufacturing plant.  (See
attached graphic).
    Honda broke ground on the new facility in April of 2000 and plans to begin
mass production in late 2001.  The $440 million plant is approximately 75%
completed.  HMA will employ approximately 1500 associates when it reaches its
twin annual capacities of 120,000 vehicles and 120,000 engines.