The Greenport Village wastewater treatment plant has been selected to participate in a $3 million pilot program to help municipalities improve sewer systems operations at no cost.
The program is run by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Environmental Facilities Corporation and provides engineers to help develop asset management planning and improve operations and maintenance of wastewater.
“Municipalities will receive expert advice and assistance at no cost, allowing them to better manage resources and serve communities,” said DEC commissioner Basil Seggos.
Greenport Village trustee Julia Robins was happy with the news, pointing out that any help in modernizing the village’s infrastructure is always welcome.
“They will help us develop a computerized mechanical maintenance program for our wastewater treatment plant and in the first year we’ll provide them with data, which they’ll use to develop a computerized system for us. Then for the next couple of years we’ll be providing them with information from that system to see if it’s working.”
Since Greenport is only a small municipality, the allocated funds from the grant will probably amount to only a few thousand dollars in services, she said. “But any amount for our infrastructure is very important and I think it’s a great thing to modernize our system.”
The DEC solicited volunteers for the pilot program in late 2015 and more than 80 municipalities applied to participate. Greenport Village was the only municipality on Long Island chosen for the program.
