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RFH 2010, Cover Stories, Village of Hamilton

Cleaner Chesapeake Bay Will Cost Hamilton

Wed, Feb 09, 2011

Cleaner Chesapeake Bay Will Cost Hamilton

When effluent -- the end product of the local wastewater treatment process -- leaves the Village of Hamilton's plant, it enters Payne's Creek. That flows into the Chenango River, which flows into the Susquehanna River, which empties into the country's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay.

Because of federal regulations meant to clean up the Chesapeake, Hamilton's effluent -- and that of many other municipalities in the three states that make up the Susquehanna's drainage area -- is going to have to be more thoroughly treated. And, that means considerably increased costs and possibly an expansion of the plant.

At Tuesday night's regular meeting of the village Board of Trustees, Sean Graham told the board very early rough estimates suggest that meeting the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations will increase what it costs to operate the wastewater treatment plant by about 65 percent. Graham, director of utilities and public works, said the village's wastewater treatment plant may also have to be increased in size in order to meet the regulations that require reduced amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments in the effluent.

Graham said the state has received $15 million from the federal government to help offset the costs of meeting the new guidelines, but but he is not optimistic Hamilton will see much, if any, of that money.

Graham said he will have a clearer picture of the actual impact of the regulations in about 10 days. He said there is a meeting with the state Department of Environmental Conservation at which exact measures of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments will be made known.

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