Oneida County completes upgrades to wastewater system

UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County announced it has completed capital projects to upgrade and expand the county’s water-pollution-control plant in Utica and the Sauquoit Creek pumping station in Yorkville.

The projects fulfill a consent order issued by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The county has worked with the DEC for more than a decade to improve the county’s wastewater infrastructure, County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. said in a news release. “Not only do these upgrades fulfill the requirement of the consent order, but they greatly improve the quality of life for our residents and position our region for promising economic development opportunities moving forward.”

The upgrades to the wastewater plant increased capacity from 55 million gallons per day to 111 million. The Oneida County Sewer District serves 15 member municipalities.

The project represents the closure of Consent Order R6-20060823-67, executed by the county and DEC in 2007 to eliminate sanitary-sewer overflows into the Mohawk River. The order was revised in 2011 to include requirements for upgrades to the water-pollution-control plant and Sauquoit Creek pumping station and force main. It also included substantial rehabilitation work within the town and village sewer systems.

Since then, the county and Oneida County Sewer District-member municipalities made about $380 million in investments, supported by funding secured through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC). The EFC provided $354 million in assistance, including $30 million in grants.

“Oneida County has diligently taken the lead to coordinate and collaborate with its municipal users to implement improvements to the sewer district as a whole,” DEC Region 6 Director Randall C. Young said in the release. “DEC appreciates the county’s ongoing commitment to upgrade and rehabilitate various system components outside of the required scope of the consent order, now and into the future.”

Oneida County will continue to make improvements to the wastewater system.

“Although the work directly associated with the consent order is complete, we remain committed to continuous system improvements and maintenance,” Karl Schrantz, Oneida County Department of Water Quality and Water Pollution Control commissioner, said. “Ongoing initiatives include continued, close collaboration with sewer-district municipalities as they maintain their sanitary sewer collection systems, including mitigation of private property inflow and infiltration.”

The Village of New Hartford is one of the municipalities that has done significant work on its system and continues to work with the county. 

“The Village of New Hartford has repaired many miles of pipe, all manholes have been rehabilitated and the few areas where sewer and storm water were connected have been separated,” New Hartford Mayor Don Ryan said in the release. “The county has helped us identify areas of the system that need further work, and we will continue those efforts through an ongoing village sewer rehab fund and hopefully a grant that will allow the village to conduct work on private properties.”

The Town of Whitestown has also overseen sewer-system rehab projects throughout the town. 

“The early stage of engineering studies enabled us to identify the most serious problem areas,” said Whitestown Supervisor Shaun Kaleta. “We must continue to address critical infrastructure, focus investments on high-impact areas and educate our residents not only about our work, but how they, too, can make a difference.”