Freeport lands $11 million grant to pay for most of new sewage treatment plant

Freeport officials have landed a huge state grant — $11 million — to help pay for a new $16.9 million sewage treatment plant.

The borough’s 50-year-old plant discharges partially treated sewage during heavy rains into Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River.

The plant needs upgrades to meet state and federal environmental regulations.

The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVEST) awarded the grant. The borough applied to PennVEST in November with the hope of a large grant but with the expectation of a low-interest loan.

“The grant is very instrumental,” Mayor James Swartz Jr. said. “Without it, we wouldn’t be able to do the project.”

The borough explored various options for solving its sewage treatment problems over the past several years, including renovating the existing treatment plant and connecting to one of the neighboring sewage systems for treatment. Building a new plant was chosen as the most cost-effective move.

Borough Council President Clinton Warnick said, “It’s wonderful news for the borough. We didn’t expect a grant of that size. We are excited to move forward with the project.”

Even a veteran of sewage projects such as the borough’s engineer, Kevin Creagh of KLH Engineers, was surprised.

“It’s very rare that a project gets fully funded with a grant without a loan component from PennVEST,” he said.

Creagh told the council previously, if they got a grant to cover half of the project, it would be a win.

Borough officials have been trying to raise money for a new sewage treatment plant to serve the 743 households in the borough.

By law, the borough can’t borrow more money for the project than residents can afford to pay back. The federal Environmental Protection Agency sets a benchmark, called the Affordability Index, for repaying the debt a community takes on for such projects.

In calculating the project costs, council must stay below EPA’s financial threshold. In Freeport’s case, that’s $70.42 a month, which includes the current $35 base rate for 2,000 gallons of water used. It’s assumed that that water, and household sewage, flows from every household into the sewage treatment system.

The borough does not have a financial analysis yet on how much the new project will raise rates for residents, Warnick said.

However, the PennVEST grant is large enough for the borough to soon greenlight the project to be put out for bid in the next several months, he said.

Could start building this summer

The earliest construction can begin on the sewage plant is this summer, borough officials said. Construction could take about two years.

But first, the borough has to line up a bank loan to cover the almost $6 million unfunded balance to pay for the project.

The borough still is exploring other grant possibilities that could lower the amount of any loan needed, Swartz and Warnick said.

State Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, and state Rep. Abby Major, R-Ford City, announced the grant award Wednesday.

Pittman is a member of the PennVEST board.

“There have been longstanding concerns about the existing treatment plant, which is old and unable to handle the flows of sewage and water as required by state and federal regulations, negatively impacting the local Buffalo Creek,” Pittman said. “When the project is completed, the new system will properly treat its discharge and meet required effluent limits, improving both public and aquatic health.”

Major agreed the project would not be fiscally feasible without assistance from the state.

“Doing nothing is not an option as Buffalo Creek is impacted and harm would be caused to our valuable waterways,” she said

The sewage plant discharges into Buffalo Creek near its confluence with the Allegheny River, which provides public water to many communities in the region. The river near Freeport also is a popular boating and recreational destination.