The cost to repair and maintain Onondaga County’s aging sewer system continues to add up. Lawmakers recently approved borrowing more than $60 million to pay for numerous projects. One of them is the Ley Creek Force Main, a 42-inch diameter pipe that carries sewage under pressure from 7th North Street in Liverpool to the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment plant near Destiny USA. Water Environment Protection Deputy Commissioner Eric Schuler told legislators it’s a long-term project that began six years ago.
“We have the Liverpool Ley Creek portion that is ready to hit the streets," he said. "Part of this resolution is also asking for authorization to utilize a grant that was previously issued to the county of $10 million. We still have to do another design phase for the long stretch of piping that's along the railroad.”
The county is under a court order to replace that portion of the pipe. The 50-year-old main ruptured twice last summer on the bridge over Onondaga Creek, sending tens of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage into Onondaga Lake. Replacement could take years.
Legislator Brian May said he’d like information going forward about which sewer projects need repairs or increase capacity in the system.
“A lot of this is routine maintenance stuff, but just to be able to make that distinction wherever whenever possible," he said. "Not because there's an inclination to say no. It's more an inclination to just understand what we're doing.”
The county is also funding projects expanding sewage capacity in Clay to accommodate the future Micron chip fab and related growth.
