The Town of Owasco will continue to pay thousands of dollars in state fines until it upgrades its wastewater infrastructure.
On Thursday, town officials agreed to pay a fine for pumping sewage or other wastewater into state waters without a State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.
“We (the town) are never going to pump again,” John Klink, town supervisor, said.
He added that residents who might have flooded basements in the future could always call the fire department if there's an emergency.
The town board authorized Klink to sign a revised Department of Environmental Conservation consent order, ordering the town to have a new wastewater collection system in place by October 2010 and proof that it is functioning properly by June 2011.
One reason for calling the Thursday meeting was to submit both the consent order and an engineering study prepared by engineers Barton & Loguidice on the flooding issue.
“We had to have the engineering report and the consent order in by August 22 in order to be put on the list for the state's Annual Intended Use Plan for the Environmental Facilities Corporation,” Klink said.
If the town is high enough on the list, it can borrow money at a low rate for its wastewater plan. Klink said he hoped because of the consent order the town might be given higher priority.
The new order drops the payable civil penalty from $35,000, as stated in the original May 20 consent order, to $25,000. It will have to be paid 30 days after the order becomes effective, when both the town supervisor and DEC representative have signed.
“It's going to cost the people in that little district $1.5 million for a new pumping system and lines,” said town clerk Robert Shaw.
Shaw said highway superintendent Michael Wilson had already done some ditch work in the area of Archie and Melrose avenues to alleviate flooding.
Klink said that Wilson's work on Melrose Parkway's drainage combined with Auburn's cleaning the city's sewer lines seems to have had an impact on the overflow.
“All the water used to run down the hill,” Klink said. “Now it's going into the ditch.”
He noted there hasn't been a problem with flooded basements even though there has been a number of rainy days this summer.
He held out the hope the town might use portable meters to measure the flow through the system on rainy days and see if, in fact, it has diminished. If so, there may be an alternative to the expensive installation of a pump station for a district with 42 houses.
Interim measures included in the new consent order allow the town to discharge water from the sewer system when wet weather causes high volumes of sewage flow to overtax the collection system. The town has to limit the length of time it pumps the water out.
Not only will the town have to notify the DEC within 24 hours of pumping out the line, but it will have to pay $1,000 within 15 days every time it happens.
The town is not authorized to pump out the sewer line if there is an overflow during dry weather and has to report to the DEC if it does.
Besides having to pay a lump sum of $25,000 in about a month, the town faces a suspended penalty of $121,000 if it fails to comply with the rest of the consent order according to a fixed schedule.
The schedule for compliance requires the town to immediately stop all discharge of untreated sewage unless authorized by a SPDES permit or according to new interim measures stipulated in the new consent order.
By Sept. 30, the town has to submit a feasibility study and design report to the DEC, evaluating engineering alternatives for fixing the inadequate system storage capacity. It will also have to choose and recommend an engineering plan of action.
Eight months after the DEC approves that report, the town has to submit engineering plans and specifications for the plan it chose, including a proposed schedule for construction to be completed by Oct. 15, 2010.
By June 30, 2011, the town has to file a report on the effectiveness of its engineering solution.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
“We (the town) are never going to pump again,” John Klink, town supervisor, said.
He added that residents who might have flooded basements in the future could always call the fire department if there's an emergency.
The town board authorized Klink to sign a revised Department of Environmental Conservation consent order, ordering the town to have a new wastewater collection system in place by October 2010 and proof that it is functioning properly by June 2011.
One reason for calling the Thursday meeting was to submit both the consent order and an engineering study prepared by engineers Barton & Loguidice on the flooding issue.
“We had to have the engineering report and the consent order in by August 22 in order to be put on the list for the state's Annual Intended Use Plan for the Environmental Facilities Corporation,” Klink said.
If the town is high enough on the list, it can borrow money at a low rate for its wastewater plan. Klink said he hoped because of the consent order the town might be given higher priority.
The new order drops the payable civil penalty from $35,000, as stated in the original May 20 consent order, to $25,000. It will have to be paid 30 days after the order becomes effective, when both the town supervisor and DEC representative have signed.
“It's going to cost the people in that little district $1.5 million for a new pumping system and lines,” said town clerk Robert Shaw.
Shaw said highway superintendent Michael Wilson had already done some ditch work in the area of Archie and Melrose avenues to alleviate flooding.
Klink said that Wilson's work on Melrose Parkway's drainage combined with Auburn's cleaning the city's sewer lines seems to have had an impact on the overflow.
“All the water used to run down the hill,” Klink said. “Now it's going into the ditch.”
He noted there hasn't been a problem with flooded basements even though there has been a number of rainy days this summer.
He held out the hope the town might use portable meters to measure the flow through the system on rainy days and see if, in fact, it has diminished. If so, there may be an alternative to the expensive installation of a pump station for a district with 42 houses.
Interim measures included in the new consent order allow the town to discharge water from the sewer system when wet weather causes high volumes of sewage flow to overtax the collection system. The town has to limit the length of time it pumps the water out.
Not only will the town have to notify the DEC within 24 hours of pumping out the line, but it will have to pay $1,000 within 15 days every time it happens.
The town is not authorized to pump out the sewer line if there is an overflow during dry weather and has to report to the DEC if it does.
Besides having to pay a lump sum of $25,000 in about a month, the town faces a suspended penalty of $121,000 if it fails to comply with the rest of the consent order according to a fixed schedule.
The schedule for compliance requires the town to immediately stop all discharge of untreated sewage unless authorized by a SPDES permit or according to new interim measures stipulated in the new consent order.
By Sept. 30, the town has to submit a feasibility study and design report to the DEC, evaluating engineering alternatives for fixing the inadequate system storage capacity. It will also have to choose and recommend an engineering plan of action.
Eight months after the DEC approves that report, the town has to submit engineering plans and specifications for the plan it chose, including a proposed schedule for construction to be completed by Oct. 15, 2010.
By June 30, 2011, the town has to file a report on the effectiveness of its engineering solution.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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