Orange County panel hears design and financing update for Harriman wastewater plant, $156 million estimate

Orange County’s Sewer District advisory committee received a design-phase briefing Dec. 10 on the proposed Harriman wastewater treatment-plant upgrade and the financing steps needed to move the project toward construction.

Consultant Marybeth, of Delaware Engineering, told the committee the upgrade would take the plant from its current 6 MGD permit toward a 9 MGD permit and requires multiple regulatory filings, including a variance for total dissolved solids and chlorides, an Army Corps of Engineers permit for the outfall, a general construction stormwater permit and a notice of anticipated noncompliance for taking unit processes offline during construction. "We are on track for an application in February," Marybeth said, and the team scheduled a DEC pre-application meeting for Dec. 19 to clarify submission expectations and to request a technical working group.

Why it matters: the project team said the treatment-plant upgrade is listed at $156,000,000 for the plant alone and is already on the state financing list that enables an application to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) administered by the Environmental Facilities…