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New Water Line Will Supply GM's Expansion
LORDSTOWN, Ohio -- Ground will be broken this afternoon for a new water line that will serve General Motors' Lordstown complex, the last of four requirements the automaker needed to guarantee the assembly plant and metal center would continue operating.The new 24-inch water line will run from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District plant in Mineral Ridge to the center of Lordstown Village six miles away and will be a redundant water source for the GM complex, said Ron Barnhart, planning administrator for the village.In the past, the assembly plant, which consumes 2 million gallons of water a day, has been temporarily shut down because of water line breaks or pumping problems, according to Tom Mock, spokesman for GM Lordstown.Each shutdown costs the company thousands of dollars in lost production, Mock said. The new water line will curb those losses by providing an alternate water source.The current water line is served by Mosquito Reservoir and the Warren Water Department. The new water line will be served by Meander Reservoir and MVSD. Original plans called for the new line to be the primary water source for the new paint shop and metal center and the back-up source for the assembly plant, Barnhart said, while the current water line continued to serve as the primary source for the assembly plant and a back-up source for the metal center and paint shop.That plan is still being evaluated, according to Mock, and may or may not be approved. Deadline for completion of the water line project is December 2005, which coincides with the GM's plans for having the new paint shop in full operation. Test builds at the paint shop will begin in June. The water line could be finished as soon as August or September and could serve additional commercial/industrial development at the GM complex or at that end of the village, Barnhart noted.The water line is the last of four requirements GM needed to keep the Lordstown complex operating. Before awarding the Cobalt to the assembly plant, the automaker could have shut down the Lordstown operation as production of the J-car models -- the Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire -- was phased out.To help win a new product and keep the facility operating, Barnhart said the Village of Lordstown granted GM a 100-percent, 10-year tax abatement on the $500 million construction/renovation project, the county dredged a retention pond to prevent flooding at the plant during heavy rains, employees approved a new agreement with the company, and arrangements were made for the redundant water line.The groundbreaking ceremony will be at 3:30 p.m. near the Lordstown fire station.Public officials from the village, Trumbull County and state of Ohio are expected to attend, as is GM's Lordstown Plant Manager Maureen Midgley."