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City reviews sewage options
  
By Paul Nelson

Published 9:06 pm, Tuesday, May 13, 2014

SCHENECTADY — The city has three years to stop discharging untreated sewage into the Mohawk River or face severe financial penalties under an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, according to city officials and a related document.

On Monday, the City Council approved the consent order, which must now be signed by DEC officials and city leaders, including Mayor Gary McCarthy before it becomes official and takes effect Friday, said city attorney John Polster.

A consent order is generally a voluntary agreement worked out between two or more parties to a dispute. It has the same effect as a court order and can be enforced by the court if its terms are not upheld.

During intense storms when the river exceeds 212 feet, floodwaters overwhelm the city's underground collection system with so much pressure that often blows manhole covers on Front Street and spews rain water and sewage onto the roads and properties.

Making matters worse, the old sewer pipes made of clay are more prone to leak and homeowners with sump pumps and roof leaders or downspouts often illegally connect their runoff into the sanitary sewer systems.

To alleviate some of the pressure, city officials open a gate valve that releases water from the sanitary sewer system into the College Creek tributary of the Mohawk. The ultimate goal of the consent order is to ensure the city ends that practice.

"This is a problem we've been working on on our own and the DEC wants to make sure it's done in a timely manner," said Polster on Tuesday, adding that the city has only had to release untreated sewage into the Mohawk two or three times in 2013. "It's (consent order) just to make sure that any and all sewage goes through the sewage plan and is treated."

He said the city has already hired two engineering firms at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars to conduct a full study into the problem which mostly occurs during heavy rains.

In March, Schenectady's Director of Water and Wastewater Paul LaFond identified those firms as CDM Smith of Latham and Clough Harbor & Associates of Albany. He said the city plans to apply for grants but that city residents will have to pay some of the cost.

The engineering firms will be taking a close look at the effect a swollen Mohawk River has on the city's collection system, and they will also be monitoring sewer flow during wet and dry weather. Once the firms collect and analyze the data, Schenectady will be able to determine the cost of the project.

Over the years, the city has so far done about $6 million in storm water upgrades, LaFond said. Despite the efforts, the two storm and sanitary systems are not "100 percent separated" and flooding persists, LaFond has said. He said the sanitary should end up at the wastewater treatment plant and the storm should go into the waterway.

The ways to achieve that result are to increase the capacity of the collection system or reduce the inflow/infiltration system or a combination of both, said city officials.

Under the agreement, the city will be required to come up with both short and long term solution to deal with the problems, subject to state approval. The city will not be fined for the state environment violations because of a 2012 state comptroller's audit that determined Schenectady was in "fiscal distress," with a nearly $5 million deficit.

The project is especially important because the 60-acre ALCO parcel is scheduled to be converted into a more than $100 million mixed-use project with a harbor and possibly a casino.