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Storm drainage work at Metro—supporting the new ammonia and phosphorus removal facilities
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Monthly report—March 2004
UV system operating
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The BAF system is reducing ammonia levels in the
Metro effluent and is on target successfully to meet
effluent compliance levels for ammonia by the ACJ date
of May 1, 2004. The ammonia removal system
(BAF—biological aerated filters) was put into
operational mode with seeding of the filter beads in
January.
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Another project milestone was achieved this month with
the completion of the 14-day performance period for
the new ultraviolet disinfection system before April
1, 2004 as required by the DEC permit. This system is
now disinfecting 100% of the BAF effluent.
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Beneficial occupancy has been taken on the Secondary
Effluent Pumping Station and the BAF facility.
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Bids were opened on March 11 for the building
demolition contract related to the Phase II Midland
project which was put tor bid on February 10. A
post-bid/pre-award meeting was held March 25 with
apparent low bidder Empire Dismantlement Corporation.
Letter of intent to award will be sent to contractor
in April.
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Bids were advertised for the construction contract for
the Phase II Midland Regional Treatment Facility and
conveyances on March 5, 2004. A pre-bid conference was
held on March 24. Approval by DEC on plans and
specifications was received March 17, 2004. Addendums
prepared. Bid opening is currently scheduled for early
May.
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Planning underway for Onondaga Lake Partnerships third
annual Lake Day to be held Saturday, June 5, 2004 at
Onondaga Lake Park near the new Griffin Visitors Center.
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Backwash pumps for the BAF
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(ACJ Completion date for ammonia full-scale 11/3/03 schedule revision requested)
(ACJ Completion date for phosphorus removal stage II 4/1/05 on schedule)
Summary of structural work
BAF structure (ammonia removal).
All structural concrete work is complete.
HRFS facility (phosphorus removal).
All structural concrete work is complete.
UV disinfection facility.
All structural concrete work is complete.
Secondary effluent pump station.
All structural concrete work at this facility is substantially complete.
Operations-Chemical Building. Structural concrete work
is complete. Work continued on the installation of
concrete masonry block with substantial completion
accomplished this month. The brick veneer and glass
block work continued on the Plant Operations Center
entryway facing Hiawatha Boulevard. The masonry, brick
veneer, and glass block work is now substantially
complete on the Chemical Building.
Summary of mechanical work
BAF facility. The BAF facility continued to accept
100% of the Metro secondary effluent flow. Effluent
ammonia levels continued to decline during the month
as biomass grew.
HRFS facility. The mechanical work including
installation of the process equipment and piping is
now substantially complete. Work on insulation
continued this month along with installation of the
balance of PVC piping for process chemicals and
installation of the power and control wiring for
process equipment.
Secondary Effluent Pump Station.
Mechanical work in this structure is substantially complete.
UV structure. The required 14-day performance testing
was completed on the UV disinfection equipment.
BAF facility. Architectural work continued this month
on this structure with installation of the BAF louvers
and exterior alucobond panels. The work is 85%
complete.
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Workers install Alucabond panels on the east side of the UV facility
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Other structures. Architectural work is substantially
complete on the Secondary Effluent Pump Station, and
the Low Lift Pump Station. This month, the floors were
coated and walls painted in the outfall area of the UV
structure. Remaining work on the UV facility include
louvers, exterior wall panels, and flashing. On the
Operations-Chemical Building, 90% of all the interior
metal stud wall partitions were completed by the end
of the month. Exterior wallboard was installed in
preparation for the exterior wall panels on the
chemical-operations center.
The contractor resumed work installing the storm
drainage system on site.
The 14-day performance period for the boilers in the
Low Lift Pump Station is underway.
Many meetings continue to be held on various aspects
of the construction, punch list items, and start-up
activities with appropriate contractors, consultants,
and County personnel.
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Pumps, rated at 500 horsepower, in the Secondary Effluent Pump Station
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This is the largest and most costly project in the program and will have the greatest positive impacts on the water quality of Onondaga Lake by removing more ammonia and phosphorus from the Metro discharge.
This is the largest and most costly single project
in the Amended Consent Judgment program
and will have the greatest positive effect on the water quality of Onondaga Lake
by removing more ammonia and phosphorus
from the Metro effluent discharge.
(ACJ project milestone—January 1, 2012—project completed)
Pipe installation and restoration work completed:
Under this $2.1 million project, 2864 feet of mainline
sewer was installed in the streets along with 1760.5
feet of lateral sewers to eighty-four houses,
thirty-nine new copper water service lines in the
right-of-way, fifteen new manholes, and twelve new
catch basins hoods.
This sewer separation project involved about eight
blocks on the City's south side. Work included
installation of a new mainline sewer and conversion of
existing combined lines to use for stormwater only.
Lead water services encountered during sewer
construction were replaced in the right-of-way by the
County to reduce extent of lead services. With the
project completed, two former combined sewer overflows
(053 and 054) no longer release combined untreated
sewage and stormwater to Onondaga Creek when it rains.
The overflows now only release stormwater. All
wastewater goes to Metro for treatment.
(ACJ completion date Phase II RTF—5/01/04 & Phase III conveyance—5/01/07 revisions requested)
Further work progresses on Phase II. During this month,
the following were undertaken to progress the project:
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Activities related to bidding the demolition contract
for this project and activities related to finalizing
the final plans and specifications of the documents
for the construction phase of the project.
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Meetings
were held with CNYRTA concerning geotechnical issues
and finalization of the purchase agreement, meetings
with Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA), and preparation of a
draft agreement between the County and SHA concerning
housing and relocation of residents during
construction.
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Design engineers, EEA, finalized the
design for the conveyance flushing system, continued
to progress utility location identification, and
prepared items for the bids and addendums.
Other meetings held
Additional meetings were held this month between
County staff, program managers (CDM/C&S), and design
engineers (EEA) regarding construction schedule,
coordination, sequencing, and staff assignments.
Finalization of the bid documents for the next sewer
separation project continues. The next CSOs slated for
sewer separation are 038 and 040 in the
Tallman-Midland area and 046A and 046B near
Onondaga Avenue. Spectra Engineering continued this month
to work on finalizing contract documents for the
project.
The County plans to go to bid on this project in
April. The intermunicipal agreement has been signed on
this project by both the County and the City and
approved through their respective legislatures.
(ACJ dates Commence construction of conveyances and RTF May 1, 2003 milestone revision requested.)
Finalized environmental information document and
SEQR-related information for Armory Square site. County and
City officials met for discussions on project. No
resolution reached.
The goal of the Clinton project is to address the
abatement of ten CSOs between Fayette and Adams
streets to be served by a Clinton area facility
located in downtown Syracuse. The facility plan
evaluates alternative technologies to address the
overflows and alternative sites for a
storage-treatment facility.
(ACJ completion date for in-water system 7/1/02. Not implementable. Milestone revision requested)
This month, the design consultants, Brown & Caldwell,
worked on the following items:
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Further development of environmental information
document and SEQR-related information for the project
by subconsultant EcoLogic.
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Archeological consultant requested to finalize
Phase IA archeological report and work plan for Phase
IB for submittal to State Office of Historic
Preservation.
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Work to identify areas to be slated for
archeological investigations within potential sites
and confirm property owners to be notified
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Maps created to construction extent for use by
EcoLogic for EID, by Sear-Brown for traffic study, and
by Hartgen for archeological investigations
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On March 3, conducted field verification of
locations of regulators, catch basins, and potential
FCF sites for the middle basin combined sewer
overflows
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Developed cost analysis for middle basin FCFs as
compared to sewer separation
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Meetings with County staff to decide further
monitoring needs and site size plans.
The draft Harbor Brook CSO Abatement Facilities Plan was released in March 2002. The draft
plan outlines and evaluates alternative technologies
including the in-water system for abating and treating
the eighteen CSOs that release to Harbor Brook. This
draft plan also identifies potential sites for CSO
abatement facilities.
Plans began this month for Onondaga Lake Day to be sponsored by
the Onondaga Lake Partnership on Saturday, June 5. County Outreach
Committee representative, Sue Miller, was asked to lead
planning for the day's events.
Onondaga Lake Partnership activities continue with County
representatives taking part in meetings and
discussions of the three committees plus the Executive
Committee as a Senior Partner member of the
Partnership.
The year 2002 was important in the Amended Consent Judgment program because
ten CSO-related projects met their major milestone
completion date of July 1, 2002 (ACJ, Appendix B pages
10-12). Some of these interim projects were completed
well ahead of the major milestone dates, and all but
two met the major milestone. The Kirkpatrick
Street Pump Station and the Harbor Brook In-water
System required milestone extensions. New York State is
reviewing the County's requests for the extensions.
The projects are listed below by date completed:
(ACJ Project milestone—January 1, 2012—Project completed 2003)
Pipe installation and restoration work was completed.
Under this $2.1 million project, 2,864 feet of
mainline sewer was installed in the streets along with
a total of 1,760.5 feet of lateral sewers to
eighty-four houses, thirty-nine new copper water
service lines in the right-of-way, fifteen new
manholes, and twelve new catch basins hoods. The
project was completed on time and under budget.
This sewer separation project involved about eight
blocks on the City's south side. Work included
installation of a new mainline sewer and conversion of
existing combined lines to use for stormwater only.
The County replaced lead water services encountered
during sewer construction to reduce lead services.
With the project completed, two former combined sewer
overflows (053 and 054) no longer release combined
untreated sewage and stormwater to Onondaga Creek when it
rains. The overflows now only release stormwater. All
wastewater from these areas goes to Metro for
treatment.
Under Appendix A of the ACJ, certain improvement
projects at Metro were designated as interim projects
and given a major milestone date for completion of
July 1, 2002. All six projects were completed by the
milestone date and most well ahead of schedule. The
projects are listed below by date completed:
Activities this month include:
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Transmitted the proposed 2004 year Ambient
Monitoring Sampling Plan to DEC and ACJ parties on
March 4, 2004 for implementation on April 1, 2004.
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Lake Technical Advisory Committee meeting held on
March 31. Meeting focused on 2003 sampling results and
2004 program plans.
Sampling conducted this month included:
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Two special high-flow tributary sampling events
held March 3 and March 8, 2004. (This completes two of
the five required for the year.)
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Quarterly extended tributary sampling event
completed March 23
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Lake winter sampling conducted March 31 following
ice-out during previous weekend
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River monitoring on March 18 in four locations
including lake outlet, Seneca River at Plainville
Bridge, Seneca River at Route 48 bridge, and Seneca River
at Route 370 bridge.
New contracts: None to report.
Amendments to existing contracts: Midland Avenue
conveyances & RTF
Contract with Environmental Engineering Associates,
LLP amended to conduct an exploratory utility location
program. Contract amendment amount: $22,000. Executed
3/11/04.
Change orders: Full-scale ammonia/phosphorus removal
Contract with The Pike Company amended to include
installation of booster pump, changes to APL piping,
and joint construction in BAF walls. Contract
amendment amount: $90,806.00. Executed 3/11/04.
Contract with The Pike Company amended to include
installation of additional rebar, raising chimney on
Low Lift Pump Station, and installation of nonrising
gates for BAF cells. Contract amendment amount:
$96,868.00. Executed 3/31/04.
Sewer separation (CSOs 053/054):
Contract with C.O. Falter Construction Corp.
amended to include additional costs of plumbing
permits and additional asphalt needed for restoration.
Contract amendment amount: $43,753.54. Executed
3/18/04.
Action items of the County Legislature in the month of March:
Authorizing an intermunicipal agreement with the
City of Syracuse for the Tallman Street sewer
separation project.
Upcoming for April legislative session:
No Items.
Upcoming for April committee:
- No items.
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Main entrance to the Operations Building
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State Bond Act funds
Payments received this month from State Bond Act funds:
Full-scale ammonia/phosphorus removal request #6 in
the amount of $5,588,621.62, Request #7 in the amount
of $5,5685,383.55. Request #8 in the amount of
$8,824,077.53 received on 3/23/04 for total aggregate
received of $33,598,082.70.
Total received to date in State Bond Act funds: $54,895,526.
Federal EPA funds
Payments received this month from Federal EPA funds:
Full-scale ammonia/phosphorus removal request #15 in
the amount of $4,823,126 received on 3/19/04 for total
aggregate received of $45,028,588. Total received to
date in Federal EPA funds: $46,464,451.
Federal Army Corps of Engineers funds
None to report.
Total received to date from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funds: $5,490,428.
The following reimbursement payments were received from EFC during the month of March:
None to report.
Total reimbursement monies received to date through
EFC Loans for the funded ACJ projects: $158,115,456
(short term), $9,088,289 (long term).
Metro photos by Joe Lorah
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Susan Miller, Project Deputy Director
Onondaga County Dept of Water Environment Protection