City seeks state aid for treatment plant work
The city is seeking state grant money to help pay for an estimated $7.9 million worth of needed work at the wastewater treatment plant on East Strand.
The work, separate from improvements currently being made at the plant, would bring the facility into compliance with more stringent requirements regarding discharges into the Rondout Creek.
The money would come from the state’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Act and Intermunicipal Water Infrastructure Grant Program. The matter was expected to be discussed by the Common Council during its meeting Tuesday evening.
A Nov. 29 letter from City Engineer Ralph Swenson said upgrades are needed in order for the city to comply with a discharge permit issued in October 2016.
“The new SPDES (State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit discharge parameters slated to go into effect in approximately three-and-a-half years require more stringent nitrogen effluent limitations ... [and] major upgrades to plant processes,” Swenson wrote.
Swenson wrote that the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act funding could cover up to 25 percent of the project’s cost, while the Intermunicipal Water Infrastructure Grant Program money could pay for up to 40 percent.
The work is not related to the $3.28 million project begun at the plant last month to avoid a repeat of problems caused by Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. That project includes building a wall that can withstand storm surges of up to 11 feet.
The city’s application for state aid to make the discharge improvements says the project would, among other things, “decrease and reduce the chance for algal blooms that seem to be more prevalent with climate change ... and create new jobs at the wastewater treatment plant for both temporary construction and skilled operations staff .... ”