Stormwater overflow: Springfield investment pays off

The town has cut down significantly on post-storm sewage discharges to the Black River after investing millions of dollars over more than 15 years, but more needs to be done, according to Public Works Director Jeff Strong.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20151001/THISJUSTIN/710019975

Stormwater overflow: Springfield investment pays off By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | October 01,2015 SPRINGFIELD — The town has cut down significantly on post-storm sewage discharges to the Black River after investing millions of dollars over more than 15 years, but more needs to be done, according to Public Works Director Jeff Strong. The Select Board on Monday authorized an engineering firm to do the necessary work for some of the final remaining sewer overflow projects, which separate the town’s storm drains from its sewage system. Springfield bonded for more than $10 million in 2001 for long-term water and sewer projects, with the town enduring several summers of torn-up roads and traffic detours. It bonded again in 2009 for an additional $2.75 million for storm-related sewer separation alone. The result, Strong said Wednesday, is the town has had no storm overflows except in “very big events” of extreme rainfalls, such as Tropical Storm Irene. Strong said it was too soon to say whether the most recent rainstorm, which dumped close to 4 inches of rain in the region Tuesday and Wednesday, resulted in sewer overflows into the Black River. But he said the town tests for overflows with a simple wooden float on a rope, which he called “a witness block.” Overflows from the town’s sewage treatment plant sends untreated sewage directly into the Black River. “We want to eliminate the outfall completely,” Strong said. “We want to dig them up or plug them with concrete. We’ve been pretty successful so far. The more we can totally eliminate it, the better.” The Springfield board heard from Joe Duncan of the Aldrich + Elliott engineering firm Monday night about the final pieces of the project. Duncan said the town had money left from the 2009 bond that could be used for either water or sewer projects. He said the town had $2.7 million in bonding capacity it could use toward the work. He said there was infiltration along Cutler and Commonwealth Avenues, as well as the town’s “cross-country routes.” Duncan said there hadn’t been any “documented overflows” since the project was complete in 2012, although Strong later clarified that to exclude “very major events.” Town Manager Tom Yennerell said he hoped to have any work on water and sewer pipes along Clinton Street between the town’s treatment plant and the Community Center Bridge completed before the state paves Clinton and Main streets next summer. Strong said Wednesday that when the town started the combined sewer overflow projects, there were 31 problem areas. “Now there are 15 or 16, and we’d like to pare it down to three or four,” he said.