Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
Feds May Help with Cost of Fixing Sewers
Aug 9, 2006 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By David Templeton
Aug. 9, 2006 (Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News delivered by Newstex) --
With rainwater and melting snow infiltrating crumbling sewer lines -- and federal pressure to fix those problems growing -- Alcosan and the 83 communities it serves face a $3 billion challenge.
But Congress could come to the rescue.
Three Republican House members visited the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority
yesterday to show support for a bill that would provide $7. 5 billion annually
to help defray the $300 billion to $500 billion cost over 20 years to repair or
replace antiquated sewerage systems nationwide.
U. S. Reps. Phil English of Erie, Melissa Hart of Bradford Woods, and Tim Murphy
of Upper St. Clair said House Bill 4560 -- the Clean Water Trust Act -- will
help upgrade the nation's sewer-line infrastructure, reduce water pollution and
improve public health.
Pennsylvania alone needs $8 billion in immediate upgrades and repairs, they
said.
"This won't be sufficient to solve the problem. That will require state and
county involvement," Mr. English said. "But we shouldn't let state and local
governments do it alone. "
Without action to repair faulty systems, communities, including the 83 served by
Alcosan, would face bans on new development and fines, among other sanctions.
In coming months, a federal consent decree will be filed in federal court in the
next step to force Alcosan and its customers to repair sewer lines and prevent
rainwater from infiltrating their lines.
Rainwater infiltration creates overflows that force Alcosan to release sewage
into the Ohio River. Such releases are illegal.
For now, Alcosan treats 25 million gallons of wastewater each day, but only half
of that volume is billable sewage, Alcosan spokeswoman Nancy Barylak said. Most
of the other half is water infiltration created when homeowners route gutters
into sewer lines or crumbling terra-cotta lines allow groundwater infiltration.
The federal decree will require those problems to be corrected, Ms. Barylak
said.
Fixing them will cost Alcosan $1 billion and the 83 communities it serves $2
billion. Once the decree is filed, public hearings will be held to discuss how
they will comply under deadline.
No one can say for now what percentage of the $3 billion in local costs would be
covered if the House bill becomes law.
But without the bill, Alcosan Executive Director Arletta Scott Williams said
Alcosan fees could quadruple in coming years to meet mandates in the decree. The
same could hold true for fees that each community would assess its customers.
Alcosan would have to "raise rates at an exorbitant pace," she said. "It would
be significant. It would be disastrous. "
Ms. Hart said all communities want to comply with the law and upgrade sewerage
systems, but they lack money.
"When you think it all the way through, this issue leaks into other issues that
we've been trying to solve," she said.
Those issues include improvements in environment, public health issues and
economic development.
If the bill does pass, she said, Alcosan and the communities it serves will be
in good position to land trust-fund money because of the large number of
communities involved, including Pittsburgh. Alcosan has 320,000 customers.
"Anything will be a benefit, a bonus," Ms. Williams said.
If the bill doesn't pass, she said, the area still must comply with the law and
decree.
"Ultimately it will happen, and the ratepayer will bear the burden," she said.
Newstex ID: KRTB-0159-10127920