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Harbor Brook watershed (brown outline)
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Diminishing CSOs along Harbor Brook
Harbor Brook begins in the Town of Onondaga and flows
through the west side of Syracuse before it empties in
Onondaga Lake. About 1200 acres of its drainage basin are
subject to the effects of eighteen combined sewer
overflows (CSOs).
CSOs create human health risks because they add
bacteria, floating trash, organic material, heavy
solids, and grit to city streams and Onondaga Lake. Material
from CSOs collects on vegetation along and in streams.
It looks bad and smells bad, and it can also transmit
disease to humans who may come in contract with the
water. Material from CSOs also depletes the dissolved
oxygen in the water that is necessary for aquatic
life.
By implementing this project, Onondaga County will meet or exceed federal and state water
quality
requirements,
reduce human health risks associated with the discharge of
untreated sewage to Harbor Brook and Onondaga Lake, and eliminate
odors caused by discharging overflows.
The County will also make improvements to the area
affected by construction of the abatement work.
The Harbor Brook CSO Abatement Project Facility Plan (Aug 2005) analyzes alternative sites and technologies
for managing the water quality effects of CSOs in the
Harbor Brook basin. The evaluation of these
alternatives is based on engineering and operational
considerations, environmental and community effects,
and cost. A companion document, the Harbor Brook Environmental Information Document (Aug 2005), addresses
potential environmental effects. These and other
documents are available with details of the
project:
 Facility Plan
Environmental Information Document
Route change for pipelines
Public hearing transcript & responses
The Facility Plan recommends two regional storage and treatment
facilities (RTFs), five underground floatables control
facilities, upgrading one pump station, and
installation of conveyance pipelines to transport CSO
flow to the facilities. The Facility Plan also identifies
two sites, both are privately owned vacant land, for
purchase for sites of the RTFs.
Implementation of this project is complicated by the
presence of chemical contamination near the mouth of
Harbor Brook.
The County has finalized the design contracts for the
Harbor Brook project. EEA was awarded the design
services contract (all design services) for the RTFs.
CDM/C&S was awarded the design contract for the
conveyances associated with the project.
Conveyance and RTF project activities:
No activities to report this month.
In February 2003, public meetings were held to discuss
sewer improvements in the Harbor Brook area.
In 2005, public information meetings and a public
hearing were held to solicit input on the project. The
following documents present the records of those
meetings:
 Responses from Onondaga County: Sept 14-15, 2005 public information meetings
Notice of public hearing
Responses: Public hearing, Dec 6, 2005
Transcript: Public hearing, Dec 6, 2005
After the September public meeting, engineers under
contract to Onondaga County developed alternate alignments
for the conveyance piping in the lower basin and upper
basin:
Conveyance route changes
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Susan Miller, Project Deputy Director
Onondaga County Dept of Water Environment Protection