Photo of new Ashland wastewater treatment plant courtesy of NYC DEP.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that a new sewage treatment plant in the Greene County town of Ashland is complete.
The plant will serve 90 homes and businesses, has a capacity of 26,000 gallons a day, and cost $7.7 million to build. (That's over $85,500 per hookup.) It includes eight new pumping stations and 2.4 miles of sewer mains. The plant will help improve water quality downstream in the Batavia Kill, which flows through the town of Ashland and feeds the Schoharie Creek, which drains into the Schoharie Reservoir.
The DEP will continue to fund the majority of the plant's operating costs, but customers in hte sewer district will be responsible for some of its ongoing costs. The project was managed by the Catskill Watershed Corporation, a nonprofit established to fund water quality projects and local economic development in the watershed area.
A few quotes from local and city officials, from the DEP's press release:
“Through our partnership with the Catskill Watershed Corporation, we have funded the extension of sewers, rehabilitated more than 3,500 septic systems and funded the construction of wastewater treatment plants, all which helps prevent contaminants from reaching our source waters,” said Commissioner Strickland. “Ashland’s new wastewater treatment plant, pumping station and sewer system not only benefit the nine million New Yorkers who depend on us to provide clean water every day but also local residents by protecting both surface and groundwater from contamination. Programs like this, along with our efforts to open city-owned upstate areas for recreational purposes, show that our work protecting our source waters can also improve the quality of life for local neighborhoods."
“The construction of the treatment plant and the installation of the collection system is good for water quality, and it has already benefitted the area economically,” said Alan Rosa, Executive Director of the Catskill Watershed Corporation. “When all 90 residences and businesses are hooked up, and the new and separate federally-funded water system is in place, Ashland will be able to point to reliable infrastructure that will make it attractive to entrepreneurs and home buyers.”
“The project in Ashland has been an effective partnership between the Town, CWC and the City of New York,” said Town of Ashland Supervisor Richard Tompkins. “The collection and treatment of wastewater will help maintain Ashland’s community character and result in improved water quality in the watershed.”
