Municipal authority awaits word on proposed sewage-plant upgrades
BROWNSVILLE – It’s been three and one-half months since members of the Brownsville Municipal Authority last sat down with officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to discuss a revised consent decree for plant upgrades, but the authority still hasn’t received a new order from the DEP. “I can’t believe the DEP hasn’t gotten back to us since our meeting at Christmas time,” said Fred Provance, chairman of the authority.
Despite the lack of a new consent order, the authority has been moving ahead with plans for a new sewage-treatment plant and improved service lines. Smoke-testing has been done to determine where storm water may be entering the system and residents whose downspouts had been flowing into the sanitary sewers have been notified.
“Any amount of water you can get out of the system inexpensively is worth it,” said Rusty Mechling, the authority’s engineer.
Removing storm water from the sanitary sewer system is one of the things the DEP has been calling for in previous consent decrees. The DEP has also called for upgrades at several of the pump stations in the system to prevent overflows.
“We still have to keep doing what they asked us to do,” said Ernest DeHaas, the authority’s solicitor. “We’re kind of in limbo because we aren’t getting any official feedback from them.”
Mechling reported that the design has been completed for a new line running from Hiller down to the area of Second and Washington streets.
The new line will allow the authority to eliminate a pump station in Hiller.
“That will eliminate one pump station and that’s a worn-out pump station,” Provance said.
The authority authorized the engineer to seek bids for the work on the new line.
Efforts to use a camera to view a number of sewer lines from the interior in order to find manholes that may have been paved over and to find areas where new manholes need to be installed is continuing.
The process is also being used to identify areas where sewer lines are collapsed or clogged by tree roots, requiring repairs.