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by John Dennis
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Friday, 24 March 2006 |
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The plan to build a sewer system in the Town that would pump waste water to the Cayuga Heights Treatment Plant was $4-$6 million more expensive in 1998 than building a stand-alone wastewater treament plant in the Town. The cost difference are almost certainly greater today. The Cayuga Heights Plant was built in about 1952 and has had several upgrades since then. Lansing voters should seek a referundum so that the voters can decide whether the current plan to build a costly sewer connector system connected to an old system is acceptable. Advantages to building a stand-alone plant in the Town: 1) savings of roughly $6 million in construction costs, 2) lower annual energy costs as the stand alone system will require fewer pumping stations; 3) newer technology with no future need to pay to upgrade old equipment at the Cayuga Heights Treatment Plant, and 4) release of treated effluent into a deeper portion of the lake that is a) downstream of the Bolton Point drinking water intake, i.e., safer for all of us who drink Bolton Point water and much healthier for the lake ecosystem than releasing more treated effluent into the shallower and polluted water at the south end of Cayuga Lake. While the existing Bond funding from DEC is tempting, it should not be the tail that wags the dog.
Best regards,
John Dennis
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