FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE01-40
October
2, 2001
Contact: Geoff Ryan
(718/595-6600)
Wastewater
Treatment Plant Upgrades Moving Ahead
Upgrades are well underway at six wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in
the watersheds of New York City's Catskill and Delaware Water Supply Systems,
according to an announcement by Commissioner Joel A. Miele Sr., P.E., of the
City's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Each of the facilities
is owned by a municipality or firm other than the City and is being upgraded
in accordance with the 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
"I am pleased to report that construction started on the four largest
facilities this summer," said Commissioner Miele. "Those four account
for 85.5% of the wastewater treated by non-City-owned WWTPs in the West-of-Hudson
watershed. The other two, which account for an additional 2.8% of treated
effluent, will begin construction in mid-autumn. All six are scheduled for
completion by the second quarter of 2002, in conformance with an agreement
with the United States Environmental Protection Agency."
Each of the plants will be upgraded to state-of-the-art technology that
includes '"tertiary" treatment, which is well above the State-mandated
secondary treatment standard. As part of the MOA, DEP will fund all aspects
of the upgrades called for by the Watershed Rules and Regulations and not
otherwise required by State or federal law.
Five of the plants undergoing upgrades are in Delaware County -- the municipal
facilities owned by the Villages of Delhi, Hobart, Stamford and Walton, and
another that treats wastewater at Worcester Creamery, formerly Mountainside
Dairy Farms, in Roxbury. The sixth plant serves the Hunter Highlands community
in Greene County. The Delhi plant will also handle pre-treated wastewater
from the Ultra-Dairy and DMV processing facilities.
In addition to these six plants, the upgrades of 21 smaller WWTPs in the
Catskill/Delaware watershed are all scheduled for completion by or before
the first quarter of 2003. These plants typically treat wastewater from restaurants,
hotels, seasonal camps and small housing developments. Seven other small WWTPs
are scheduled to be de-commissioned and connected to three proposed non-City-owned
municipal WWTPs.
By 1998, DEP had completed upgrades of its five WWTPs, which treat 40% of
the total wastewater in the Catskill/Delaware watershed. DEP installed microfiltration,
a technology used to filter drinking water, to achieve the high tertiary treatment
standards at its own plants. Microfiltration or equivalent technologies will
be used at all the non-City-owned plants currently being upgraded.