Chemung County Awarded Nearly $200 Million In Federal Aid To Upgrade, Combine Two Wastewater Treatment Plants

[TTL News 308]

Quote

 

Chemung County will receive nearly $200 million in federal money to combine its two wastewater treatment plants.

In March, the county was awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and low- to no-interest loans from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and New York’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) grant program.

The BIL is providing over $75 million in short-term interest-free financing, $75 million in short-term market-rate financing, $22 million in long-term interest-free financing and a $25 million grant.

The $25 million WIIA grant is for planning, design and construction of the two wastewater treatment plants. Those facilities will be consolidated into one. The Lake Street facility is over 60 years old and not meeting effluent discharge standards. Effluent is sewage that’s been treated at a wastewater facility and flows into our waterways such as the Chemung River and Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The goal is to combine all county wastewater for treatment at the Milton Street plant.

The project is now in its third year. Arcadis, the contractor, expects completion of the upgrades by 2026, according to a press release.

The county said that the low- to no-interest loans will be paid back by sewer users.

 

Read more here. 

[Ars76 69]

Not a sexy topic - but I think any $ into infrastructure projects is $ well spent.  Especially when the money can come in this form. I think it's hard to get people to agree to invest in projects that don't a) fix an immediate need or b) sound fun and/or exciting 

[MsKreed 1,185]

Even as someone who is not served by the Sewer Districts, I do understand the "sticker shock" that many are having from their jacked up usage bills.

And, as inflation strikes, the price tag is becoming too high for that consumer base to absorb. 

So it's not like doubled or triples sewer bills is even enough to meet the mandated upgrades anyway. If State and Federal bureaucrats are demanding these upgrades, then it's reasonable for state/fed funds to help make it happen.