Authority OKs deal to sell water to village of Stillwater

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

The Saratoga County Water Authority has approved a contract to sell water to the village of Stillwater, a key step in the village’s effort to get away from using PCB-tainted groundwater wells.

“We’ve really worked hard to get to this point, and this is critical,” said village Trustee John Basile, the village water commissioner.

Having a signed contract with the authority is essential to the village obtaining $5.9 million in government grants and loans awarded a year ago to pay for a water pipe between the village and the authority system at the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

The village now relies on groundwater wells near the Hudson River that have been tainted by low levels of PCB contamination. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is paying for a filtration system, but village officials would prefer to switch to county water.

The Water Authority agreed in principle last January to supply water to the village if contract details could be worked out.

The new contract gives the water authority another customer, its fourth municipality. The towns of Ballston, Wilton and Clifton Park also buy water from the authority.

Its primary customer will remain the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta and Stillwater and the GlobalFoundries computer chip plant being built there.

Authority Chairman John E. Lawler, R-Waterford, said having another customer is significant to the authority, but helping Stillwater residents get safe water is the biggest benefit.

“The authority was created to provide safe and affordable water to the residents of Saratoga County, and no one needs that more than the village of Stillwater,” Lawler said.

The contract the authority approved on Thursday calls for the village to buy at least 140,000 gallons per day at $2.05 per 1,000 gallons, and as much as 300,000 gallons if it gets contracts to re-sell water to parts of the town of Stillwater.

The village will be connected to the authority water tank in Luther Forest by an eight-mile pipe that will follow Cold Springs and Lake roads. The village is in the process of finalizing the necessary easements.

Basile said it’s unknown when the work will start, since the project still needs final approval from the state departments of Health and Environmental Conservation. The purchase contract had to be finalized before the state agencies can issue the needed permits.