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Vacant lot on Grand Avenue that is under consideration for construction of CSO facility
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Diminishing CSOs along Harbor Brook
Harbor Brook is a long stream. It 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).
Onondaga County is now planning to construct abatement
facilities that will reduce the effects of CSOs in the
Harbor Brook basin. The facilities will improve water
quality both in Harbor Brook and Onondaga Lake.
The initial draft Harbor Brook facility plan was
released in March 2002. It outlined and evaluated
technologies and sites for facilities to abate and
treat the CSOs.
The facility plan was revised, and the current 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.
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Harbor Brook watershed
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 Facility Plan
Environmental Information Document
Route change for pipelines
Public hearing transcript & responses
The Facility Plan recommends two regional treatment
facilities and floatables control facilities:
Upper basin
A regional treatment facility would manage CSOs in
this area (CSOs 014-078). The facility will be
designed to handle a peak flow over 4 million gallons
per hour.
Middle basin
Floatable control facilities will manage the CSOs here
(CSOs 009-013).
Lower basin
Both a regional treatment facility and floatables
control facility would be used in this part of the
Harbor Brook basin. CSOs 005-008, 003, and 004 would
be consolidated and sent to the regional treatment
facility. This facility will be designed to handle a
peak flow of 5½ million gallons per hour. In addition,
a floatables control facility would be added to CSO
036.
The project cost for this approach was estimated at
$55.2 million in 2005. The land identified for
the sites of the storage and treatment facilities is
vacant and privately owned. Execution of this project
is complicated by the presence of chemical
contamination near the mouth of Harbor Brook.
The County finalized the design contracts for the
Harbor Brook project. EEA was awarded the design
services contract (all design services) for the
regional treatment facilities. CDM/C&S was awarded the
design contract for the conveyances associated with
the project.
Progress on the Harbor Brook RTF project is proceeding
on two fronts:
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Conveyance-related work
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RTF-related work
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Continued work on 95% design.
Continued work on geotechnical report including micro-tunneling
design.
Continued work on easement and property acquisition activities.
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Design review meeting with NYS DEC on the 50% design on both Upper and
Lower Basin RTFs was held on April 26, 2007.
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In February 2003, a series of public meetings were
held to discuss sewer improvements in the Harbor Brook
area. The following is a notice about the meetings:
 Information meetings about Harbor Brook project
In 2005, public information meetings and a public
hearing were held to solicit input on the project:
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