US agency approve grants for sewage and wastewater treatment plants

The New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) in the US has approved grants totalling about $3m to the town of New Berlin and the village of Penn Yan for the construction and upgrade of the sewage collection system and wastewater treatment plant, respectively.

The EFC is the arm of New York State government that finances the construction and repair of local wastewater and drinking water systems.

New York’s town of New Berlin will receive a grant of $2m to construct a centralised sewage collection system and replace individual septic systems for about 120 users near or on the Chenango Lake.

The new sewage collection system will be used to gather all the liquid and solid waste from and discharge into the treatment system operated by the city of Norwich, and prevent pollution of the Chenango Lake.

New Berlin is also eligible for a $2.4m interest-free loan from the EFC.

New Berlin town supervisor Ross Iannello said the role of the town’s board is to provide an affordable project to the lake area.

"More importantly, it is to also provide the opportunity to avoid pollution to the lake that, in the future, will be more costly to clean up at greater cost to the property owners around the lake," Iannello said.

It is also expected that the system will help the town meet the nitrogen reduction standards set by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The EFC has also approved a grant of nearly $1m to the village of Penn Yan in New York towards a $4m upgrade of its wastewater treatment plant.

An interest-free loan of $4m was approved by the EFC for the village to install new filtration equipment, among other improvements, at the treatment plant.

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Image: The NY town of New Berlin will use an EFC grant to build a centralised sewage collection system and prevent pollution of Chenango Lake. Photo: USDA.