|
Midland Ave Regional Treatment Facility & Conveyances—Facility Plan, Jan 2003
by Environmental Engineering Associates, LLP
for Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection
1. Project background
This section provides a brief background of the
Onondaga County (County) Midland Avenue Regional
Treatment Facility (RTF) and Conveyances project being
undertaken as part of the County's combined sewer
overflow (CSO) abatement program.
In January 1989 Onondaga County entered into a
Judgment on Consent with the State of New York and the
Atlantic States Legal Foundation (ASLF) in settlement
of litigation initiated in connection with alleged
violations of state and federal water pollution
control laws. The conditions of the Judgment on
Consent require the County to perform a series of
engineering and scientific studies to evaluate the
need for upgrading the (Metro) and providing treatment of
CSOs that occur within the Metro service area.
Based on the results of those studies, and in
consultation with the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the County
developed a plan for upgrading the Metro plant and
providing treatment of CSOs. The County submitted a
proposed Municipal Compliance Plan (MCP) to NYSDEC and
ASLF on January 11, 1996. Subsequent negotiations with
regard to the proposed MCP resulted in the execution
of an Amended Consent Judgment (ACJ) between the
parties, which was executed by the U.S. District Court
on January 20, 1998. This ACJ replaced and superseded
the Consent Judgment entered on February 1, 1989.
Pursuant to the ACJ, Onondaga County is required to
implement a CSO control and upgrade program that
achieves the following:
Many alternatives for the control of CSO discharges
have been considered for the Syracuse combined sewer
system during recent years, as described in the
County's CSO Facilities Plan of 1991. The more
cost-effective recommendations involving minimal
structural improvements have already been implemented
and significant reductions in the magnitude and
frequency of CSO events have resulted. A decision on
appropriate actions to implement final CSO controls
was delayed as the efficacy of controls, emerging
regulatory requirements, and the ability of the County
to fund such improvements in the absence of
substantial state or federal assistance programs were
evaluated. As defined in the ACJ, a program was
proposed to achieve compliance with the goals of the
NYS CSO Control Strategy and the Federal CSO Control
Policy.
The CSO abatement program includes both interim and
major projects to address water quality problems. The
first series of projects include both demonstration
projects, the conclusions of which will be
incorporated into subsequent projects, and projects
with a high benefit-to-cost ratio. These projects are
categorized as "interim" and were implemented between
1998 and 2002. The second series of projects, termed
"major," represent those projects which will be needed
to achieve substantial compliance with federal and
state requirements.
The MCP prepared for the County in 1996 presented a
program for CSO control and upgrade that is intended
to comply with the ACJ requirements. The Midland
Avenue RTF and Conveyances project is one of the MCP
CSO projects to be undertaken by the County pursuant
to the ACJ. The service area tributary to this project
is the largest in the County's combined sewer system
and, as such, represents the largest water quality
benefits to be derived from the County's CSO control
and upgrade program.
The Midland Avenue service area encompasses
approximately 2,300 acres of urban residential and
commercial areas. There are 20 known active CSOs
within the Midland Avenue service area. Table 1-1
lists these overflows and their location by nearby
streets.
| Table 1-1. MIDLAND AVENUE SERVICE AREA OVERFLOWS |
|
No.
|
ID
|
Drainage area (acres)
|
Location
|
|
1
|
038
|
10
|
Taylor Street
|
|
2
|
039
|
478
|
Tallman Street - East
|
|
3
|
040
|
12
|
Tallman Street - West
|
|
4
|
041
|
3
|
Oxford Street
|
|
5
|
042
|
248
|
Midland Avenue West
|
|
6
|
043
|
493
|
Midland Avenue East
|
|
7
|
044
|
115
|
West Castle/South Avenue
|
|
8
|
045
|
7
|
West Castle/Hudson
|
|
9
|
046A
|
15
|
Onondaga Avenue
|
|
10
|
046B
|
16
|
Onondaga Avenue
|
|
11
|
047
|
0
|
South Avenue - North
|
|
12
|
048
|
9
|
South Avenue - South
|
|
13
|
049
|
5
|
Kirk Park North (permanently closed)
|
|
14
|
050
|
30
|
Rockland/Hunt
|
|
15
|
051
|
25
|
Colvin/Hunt
|
|
16
|
052
|
228
|
Elmhurst/Hunt
|
|
17
|
053
|
10
|
Marguerite/Hunt
|
|
18
|
054
|
10
|
West Brighton/Hunt
|
|
19
|
060
|
28
|
West Colvin/Onondaga Creek
|
|
20
|
061
|
3
|
Crehange/Onondaga
|
|
21
|
062
|
15
|
West Brighton - East (permanently closed)
|
|
22
|
076
|
86
|
Brighton/Midland Avenue
|
|
23
|
077
|
445
|
Midland/West Colvin (discharges to Overflow 060)
|
|
|
Total
|
2,303
|
|
|
Note: Service area also includes Kirk Park Siphon Chamber Emergency Bypass (not a CSO) - ID 093 - permanently closed.
|
As presented in the 1996 MCP, when completed, the
Midland Avenue RTF and Conveyances project would
prevent overflows from existing CSOs 039, 042, 043,
044, 052, 060 (includes former Overflow 077), 061, and
076 up to the one-year frequency, two-hour duration,
15-minute rainfall interval design storm event
(one-year design storm event). These facilities would
accomplish this reduction in CSO discharges by
providing conveyance, storage, and high-rate treatment
of these overflows at the RTF prior to discharge to
Onondaga Creek or subsequent conveyance and treatment
of stored CSO at Metro up to the one-year design storm
event.
In addition to the Midland Avenue RTF and Conveyances
project, separate sewer separation projects pursuant
to the ACJ are planned for the service area that will
result in either the conversion of CSOs 038, 040, 041,
045, 046A, 046B, 047, 048, 050, 051, 053, and 054 to
storm only discharges or the closure of these
overflows. These CSOs scheduled for sewer separation
will not contribute combined sewer flow to the Midland
Avenue RTF and Conveyances, or to Onondaga Creek.
This Facilities Plan report has been prepared to
summarize the basis of design and preliminary planning
for the overall Midland Avenue RTF and Conveyances
project. Engineering Reports will be prepared for
separate phases of the overall project to describe
each phase in greater detail, clarify project scope
and issues, and present the basis of design to be used
in preparation of Contract Documents for the
construction of the projects.
The following is a summary of the ACJ construction
major and minor milestone dates related to the Midland
Avenue RTF and Conveyances project that were
originally included in the ACJ. There have been
numerous revisions to the minor milestone dates since
the ACJ was executed on February 1, 1989. The major
milestone date presented below, however, has remained
unchanged.
Current minor and major milestones for the RTF and conveyances are presented in
Section 5, Project Phasing/Implementation Schedule.
See also the website description of this project for the schedule.
|
Milestone
|
Date
|
|
1. Commence construction of the Midland Avenue conveyances (minor milestone)
|
May 1, 1999
|
|
2. Complete construction and begin operation of the Midland Avenue conveyances (minor milestone)
|
May 1, 2004
|
|
3. Commence construction of the Midland Avenue RTF (minor milestone)
|
May 1, 2004
|
|
4. Complete construction and begin operation of the Midland Avenue RTF (major milestone)
|
May 1, 2007
|
|
Susan Miller, Project Deputy Director
Onondaga County Dept of Water Environment Protection