Welcome Back: Area organizations debate plans for updating sewers

Some local environmental organizations say that Pittsburgh’s sewer system, which combines the sewage and stormwater tunnels, is outdated. Although the system is used to ensure sanitation, it can no longer handle the city’s sewage in a way that prevents pollution.

“Right now if you flush your toilet it goes straight into the river,” Tom Hoffman, an environmental activist, said during an interview that took place soon after heavy rainfall.

Allegheny county’s plumbing is due for a renovation according to the new regulations to improve water quality set by the federal Clean Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a consent decree to municipalities throughout the nation to update the transportation and treatment of water in 2008. The perpetual threat of flooding at the slightest rainfall makes Pittsburgh a high priority for improvements.

Some organizations in the area have formed a coalition called the Clean Rivers Campaign, which claims to advocate for an environmentally friendly update to Pittsburgh’s sewage system, which currently pollutes the rivers through runoff. Some Pitt students and graduates are finding employment in these efforts. But, some local sanitation officials and the city’s government are unsure how well the campaign’s proposals will work as a means to upgrade the area’s sewer system.

Time for an Update

Hoffman, the western Pennsylvania director of the environmental activist organization Clean Water Action, said that Pittsburgh’s sewers worked well when they were built in the 1950s.

But because the city has developed since then, they can no longer handle both runoff from rainfall and household sewage waste, according to Hoffman. Pavement now covers more of the city than 60 years ago, which means that less rainfall is absorbed into the ground.

Officials in the area’s sanitation departments agreed with Hoffman’s position but said they disagreed with some of Hoffman’s position.

Nancy Barylak, a spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, or ALCOSAN, also said Hoffman’s statement regarding wastewater was not true. During rainy conditions when lines become filled to capacity, runoff from rainfall dilutes the sewage.

Guillermo Cole, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department, said that the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority provides wastewater treatment services to most of the county. Although it processes about 250 million gallons of wastewater a day, this is not enough when it rains. 

But Cole also said that although 9 billion gallons of untreated sewage are discharged into the rivers each year, it’s not completely true that when you flush it will go directly into the rivers.

“It will be significantly diluted with storm water,” said Cole. Cole also said that it depends on the community you live in. Some areas have sanitary lines that are separate from storm water lines where this wouldn’t occur unless the lines were compromised.

But Hoffman remained unconvinced.

“I don’t think diluting it makes it any better,” he said in response to Cole’s and Barlyak’s statements.

Sewage Wars

Clean Water Action is just one of six organizations now involved in the Clean Rivers Campaign.

The others include the Sierra Club; the Allegheny Group, a local organization that works on environmental programs and campaigns; Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, which involves community members in green initiatives; Action United, which organizes community members with low or moderate incomes to influence important issues; the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network, which organizes people of different religious backgrounds around social justice issues; and Pittsburgh United, which works to advance social and economic justice.

The Clean Rivers Campaign proposes that more green infrastructure could reduce or prevent sewage runoff into the rivers. For those involved in the campaign, this would mean putting in permeable sidewalks and streets and planting trees and creating more green spaces. These improvements will stop the rain where it falls, preventing runoff in a process that authorities call source control or reduction.

ALCOSAN initially proposed building sewer tunnels beneath the rivers, but is now working on a two-part plan.

The first component would be to add new, larger lines to the existing ones.

“Not only can they convey flow to us but also store it,” said Barylak. This means that the pipelines would convey flow until it rained. When it rained, the new lines would be large enough to store the extra stormwater that the plant would not be able to treat all at once.

“We didn’t do anything bad” said Barylak in regards to what caused the sewage problem in Pittsburgh.

Before the change in the Federal Water Act, ALCOSAN and the other sewage treatment plants were operating according to the law. With the changes in legislation, however, all of the facilities must evolve to treat more sewage by 2026. She said that as the largest sewage treatment plant in the area, ALCOSAN processes 250 million gallons of sewage a day. The second-largest plant only processes 10 million gallons of sewage a day. Because the Federal Clean Water Act was changed, ALCOSAN must expand their processing capacity to 480 million gallons a day.

The Wet Weather Plan draft would cost $3.6 billion and is not federally funded. All funding for this project will come from ALCOSAN ratepayers. ALCOSAN is a joint authority of the city and county that does not receive tax funds and operates under state guidelines. They are working on a plan whose cost would be closer to $2 billion.

The second component of the plan is more source control. This is where green infrastructure will be effective but it’s not enough to prevent overflow on its own. Source control implements green infrastructure to stop stormwater where it drops. For example, if rain falls on a green space it will be absorbed into the ground, but if it falls on a sidewalk it will runoff into the streets.

“Green infrastructure will never ever address the problem by itself,” said Barylak.

Hoffman agrees with Barylak that green infrastructure alone wouldn’t be enough to solve the problem. But ALCOSAN’s initial plan did not incorporate any green infrastructure he said. 

ALCOSAN requested an extension to study the issue after community members suggested it during the public comment period.

“We’re not really sure they’re very sincere about it,” said Hoffman. “We won the battle but definitely haven’t won the war yet.” 

She said that ALCOSAN has partnered with municipalities on source control over the last seven years and that it was unfair to say that ALCOSAN is not going to implement source control.

ALCOSAN is working closely with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewage Authority, which is responsible for operating and maintaining the city’s sewer system. The PWSA transports sewage to ALCOSAN for treatment.

Moving toward a solution

Starting last February, the PWSA and city of Pittsburgh collaborated to hold three planning sessions that included engineering and environmental experts from the government, nonprofit and private sectors, including at least one organization in the Clean Rivers Campaign. Last month, the PWSA published their conclusions after these meetings in a 21-page report.

The report points to using some “green” infrastructure, like parks, to take some of the burden for dealing with wastewater off “gray” infrastructure, which includes sewer lines and tunnels.

The major recommendations agreed the participants in the sessions included creating a stormwater utility, a service responsible for funding the operation and maintenance of stormwater management devices. Stormwater management devices include water filtration and detention basins, engineered wetlands and green spaces designed to redistribute stormwater. 

According to the PWSA’s report, those at the sessions also recommended using parks and other green infrastructure throughout the city to absorb rainwater, and educating community members and residents about how they can implement green infrastructure in their homes and businesses.

Hoffman said the Clean Rivers Campaign is impressed with the PWSA and their plan to incorporate green infrastructure into waste management.

“We think PWSA is doing a really great job on this,” Hoffman said, referring to their efforts to study source reduction.

“We want to get the biggest bang for our buck,” Melissa Rubin, a spokeswoman for the PWSA. said. 

Rubin said that she would not comment on details of ALCOSAN’s plan, but that both plans will work together to accomplish the same goal.

“The goal is to improve water quality by eliminating overflow,” Rubin said.

Getting Involved

Even some Pitt students have become involved with the Clean Rivers Campaign, as well as other projects.

Several Pitt students currently working for Clean Water Action are involved in the campaign. Michelle Mancuso, a senior environmental studies major, has attended several meetings regarding the aging sewer system. She said it’s great to be a part of something so important and feel like you’re making a difference, and doesn’t think she’d get the same feeling if she worked at a regular part-time job.

“It’s so easy to get involved with the Clean Rivers Campaign,” Mancuso said. “I think I’m making a difference.”

Hilary Marcella, who graduated from Pitt three years ago with a degree in urban studies, now works as the assistant director of canvassing for Clean Water Action’s Pittsburgh office. She began working for Clean Water Action as a phone canvasser when she was just a freshman.

“There are a few reasons why it’s really good for students,” Marcella said. “I made more money working for Clean Water Action than I would have as a part-time worker somewhere else … [There’s] also really flexible scheduling.”

Greg Sinn, a 2008 Pitt graduate who is now the office manager of field canvass at the organization’s Pittsburgh office, said canvassers earn between $9.25 and $11 per hour.

Marcella also said that by working for a nonpartisan lobbying group like Clean Water Action, employees develop essential communication skills involving member outreach and fundraising.

Sinn said he sees the organization as a way to promote discourse on environmental issues.

“Our job, really, is to bring the community into the conversation,” he said.