South Buffalo just starting plans for updated sewage treatment

Teghan Simonton | Friday, March 13, 2020 1:39 p.m.

South Buffalo is just starting conversations about updating its sewer system.

South Buffalo is in the “absolute infancy” of updating the township’s sewage treatment plant, municipal authority members say.

The township had at one time considered collaborating on an updated sewage treatment plant with neighboring Freeport.

In recent weeks, though, Freeport Council decided to move forward with the borough’s project independently.

“No decisions have been made over what we’re going to do,” said Paul Bergad, chairman of South Buffalo’s water and sewage authority.

Bergad emphasized that the two municipalities had never reached a formal agreement to work together on the project.

“We are just starting this,” he said. “No agreement was ever even vaguely discussed.”

Freeport Mayor James Swartz Jr. said the decision to move forward on Freeport’s new sewage plant without collaborating with South Buffalo was a necessity due to time constraints. Freeport must comply with state and federal mandates requiring the borough to capture and treat 86% of its sewage flow before releasing it back into the Allegheny River.

The deadline for state and federal approval of the new sewer plant design is next January.

Swartz said the project should have been underway three or four years ago, but the borough leaders at the time “didn’t do their due diligence.”

Bergad wished Freeport luck moving forward with the new project.

“Later on down the line, if we can work together, we will,” he said. “But right at this point, we know nothing.”

Justin DeAngelis, a Freeport councilman, said the two communities could still work together as they both seek to meet new state standards.

“We obviously need to be in better communication with each other on both sides here,” DeAngelis said. “At the end of the day, we’re still open for discussion whenever you guys are ready.”