Work under way on Brownsville sewage treatment plant
BROWNSVILLE – Work is well under way for the first phase of construction for a new sewage treatment plant for the Brownsville Municipal Authority. According to engineer Rusty Mechling of Fayette Engineering, the excavation is done for the holding tanks at the new plant, the force main that will bring the sewage into the plant has been constructed and much of the work has been completed for A-station, the last pump station before the plant.
A-station is located near the Brownsville Wharf Riverside Park and taking the force main from A-station to the plant involved going through the Bank Street parking lot. Mechling said the lot should be repaved before the start of winter.
The authority’s solicitor, Ernest DeHaas, said the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has not yet issued the construction permit for Phase II of the sewage project that will involve upgrades to existing sewer lines and pump stations throughout the system.
Without the construction permit, the authority is unable to have the closing on the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) loan for Phase II.
The authority is under a DEP consent order to construct the new plant because the current plant is in the flood plain. DeHaas said the date the DEP issues construction permits triggers the completion dates mandated by the consent decree.
DeHaas said there had been a delay in the closing for the loan for Phase I and PENNVEST would not permit the authority to begin construction until the closing was held, even though the DEP had issued a construction permit.
“I requested, for the record, that the start date for Phase I be extended to May 31,” DeHaas said. “I wanted the consent order to reflect when we could start construction.”
DeHaas said that, to date, the authority has not received an answer from the DEP to his request for the change in the start date for Phase I, nor has it issued a permit for the start of Phase II.
Mechling said the lack of a permit could delay the start of construction on Phase II by as much as six months.
“As far as we know, we’ve completed all the requirements for Phase II, but because of them (DEP), Phase II is being delayed,” DeHaas said.
“There’s nothing we’ve done or didn’t do that’s holding this up,” Mechling said.
In a related matter, the authority voted to make an offer for a parcel of land owned by Sam Nicola that is needed for a pump station. Two other property owners will be offered $500 in exchange for granting easements to the municipal authority.