DANSVILLE – A newly constructed wastewater treatment facility is currently seeking grants to cover the cost of construction after the application deadline passed for the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)’s Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) grant.
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Bill Davis with MRB engineering told the Dansville Village Board in June that due to delays and other issues, the project is in a tough spot fiancially, and that the facility would likely not qualify for the DEC’s grant due to changing disinfection requirements.
“DEC at first said that we would have to disinfect 5 or 10 years down the road, but now they’re saying that despite everything we’re talked about, we will have to do disinfection, citing problems in Canaseraga Creek,” said Davis. “Contracts have gone over deadlines, and other issues have caused us to be essentially out of money at this point. We have drafted a letter on behalf of the Village Board to fight disinfection as a first step.”
Davis said that the project is not currently able to disinfect and needs to go into long-term financing. There are a few grants available that could help the project meet disinfection requirements.
“There is a potential for other grants for disinfection,” said Davis.
The DEC added that a draft permit, publicly noticed in early May, included their disinfection requirement. In June, DEC announced the Water Quality Improvement Project, which provides funding for DEC’s highest priority projects to address effluent disinfection at municipal wastewater treatment plants.
“DEC consulted with the Village and after discussion, DEC did not remove the disinfection requirement,” said Jomo Miller with the DEC. “As a result of these discussions, the Village plans to apply for grants to meet disinfection requirements.”
The WQIP program offers grants for up to 85% of construction costs for municipal systems to upgrade and meet disinfection requirements.
The WQIP application deadline closed Friday, July 31, at 4 p.m.