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Treatment plant reports generator failure; Board notifies NYSDEC after cyanide exceedance
Summary
Manager Harry Brand reported a generator exciter and permanent magnet generator were damaged and require replacement; the plant also submitted a Report of Noncompliance to NYSDEC after a March 6 effluent sample slightly exceeded cyanide permit limits. Emergency parts are on order and increased sampling is underway.
Harry Brand, Manager—Wastewater Programs for the Gloversville-Johnstown Joint Sewer Board, said the facility's Cogen #1 unit shut down on a Loss of Excitation 40 fault after an inspection found mounting bolts either backed out or broken and the exciter rotor contacted the stator. Milton Cat disassembled the unit and determined that both the exciter and the permanent magnet generator (PMG) require replacement; emergency replacement parts have been ordered with an estimated delivery in late May.
Brand also reported that an effluent composite sample taken March 6, 2025 showed Cyanide, Free at 7.1 micrograms per liter, above the permit limit of 6.6 micrograms per liter, and a pounds-per-day value of 0.58 lbs/day versus a permit limit of 0.55 lbs/day. The facility submitted a Report of Noncompliance to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on March 20, 2025 and sent the April 9, 2025 composite sample to an alternate laboratory to compare results with the lab historically used for the analysis.
The board did not report immediate operational restrictions tied to the cyanide exceedance but Brand said the facility will increase sampling and continue investigations to identify and eliminate the source. Replacement of the exciter and PMG is being treated as an urgent capital and reliability issue; the facility placed emergency orders to restore Cogen #1 as quickly as possible.
The item was presented during the board's operations report; the board did not take separate formal action beyond documenting the noncompliance notification and authorizing emergency parts procurement as described by staff.
