Chemung County’s two sewer districts each has a wastewater treatment plant. Combined, the plants serve about 80 percent of county residents and over 90 percent of businesses. Both plants are aging and will require upgrades to meet increasingly stringent federal and state discharge standards.
Meeting new regulations, including limits on the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen released into the Chesapeake Bay watershed, will cost millions of dollars and put a huge burden on the local, publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities.
In one instance, a state request for the Sewer District No. 1 plant, located off Lake Street in Elmira, to begin disinfecting its effluent in the warmer months would cost an estimated $7 million in updates. Constructed in 1962 and last updated in 1989, the Lake Street plant is 25 years older than the Elmira Sewer District’s plant on Milton Street in Southport, which was built in 1987.
Below is the Final Waste Water Consolidation Study commissioned in 2017:
Waste Water Treatment Consolidation Study
Below is the 2019 Sewer Rate Presentation:
Sewer Rate Presentation
Below is the 2019 list of the Sewer District’s Capital Projectsthat were approved by the County Legislature on September 9, 2019 to keep the facilities going until the major upgrades are made the the Sewer District:
2019 Sewer Capital Projects
Below is the 2019 Waste Water Treatment Consolidation Options. One of which will be recommended by County Executive Moss in the near future:
2019 Wastewater Water Treament Consolidation