Alcosan looks to build new chemical storage building along Ohio River

The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority is looking to construct a 2,700-square-foot chemical storage building at their treatment plant along the Ohio River.

In a presentation before Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission Tuesday, Rulison Evans, the project engineer, said the plan is to tear down two existing storage buildings at the site and replace them with the new structure.

“This is one of several ongoing and future projects at the Alcosan treatment plant,” Evans said, explaining the projects will collectively give the authority the ability to treat up to 600 million gallons per day. “That will reduce the frequency, duration and volume of overflows to rivers and streams in the region.”

Alcosan’s $2 billion Clean Water Plan also includes a massive tunnel system under Pittsburgh and its rivers.

The building proposed to the Planning Commission Tuesday will stand about 40 feet tall, Evans said, and will be located within the fenced-off treatment plant site.

The building will provide safe storage for the handling of a disinfectant chemical called sodium hypochlorite that is used at the treatment site, Evans said.

Though the structure will be largely out of sight because of its location within the Alcosan plant, it will be visible from the river. Several members of the Planning Commission noted that the building noted that the building’s simple design isn’t particularly aesthetic.

Renderings show the building appearing gray, and Evans said it will be made of block.

“This is facing a river, and we are trying to encourage more use of our rivers and the views therefrom to be a little more thoughtful,” Commissioner Rachel O’Neill said, urging the sanitary authority to consider modifying their plans to include more “visual interest.”

Commissioner Jean Holland Dick suggested landscaping might “enhance the view of it” from the river.

Because of the building’s industrial purpose, Evans said, Alcosan was aiming to save money by employing a simplistic design. He suggested the proposed building will not be any less visually appealing than the two plain metal buildings on the site now.

“I realize you’re saving money, and it looks like you’re saving money,” Commissioner Sabina Deitrick said, adding that the proposal doesn’t match her ideals of what a riverfront building design should be.

Evans said he would take commissioners’ concerns and suggestions regarding the aesthetics of the building to Alcosan before the Planning Commission is slated to vote on the proposal in two weeks.

Joseph Vallarian, an Alcosan spokesman, described it as “literally a square building within our plant.”

“No one will be seeing it except employees and perhaps someone passing by on the McKees Rocks bridge or along the river,” he said.