Second Saratoga County sewer plant considered

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

Six possible sites in the Schuylerville area are under consideration for a new county sewage treatment plant, county sewer commissioners were told Wednesday.

None of the sites are being identified, but consultant Ed Hernandez of Delaware Engineering of Albany said what’s being considered would be a 10 million-gallon-per-day plant to handle wastewater from Wilton and Saratoga Springs.

It would be the sewer district’s second treatment plant.

One reason to build a new plant, Hernandez said, is that the sewer trunk pipe between Saratoga Springs and the county sewage treatment plant in Halfmoon is now close to full capacity, a potential impediment to growth.

“[A new plant] gives you room for growth in Wilton and Saratoga Springs, and it will also relieve capacity issues,” he said.

Delaware Engineering was hired last March to do a $61,600 feasibility study of the idea.

At that time, sewer commissioners said their primary concern was that rapid growth at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta and Stillwater — where GlobalFoundries is building its $4.6 billion computer chip plant — could use up the available capacity at the Halfmoon plant.

The daily capacity of the Halfmoon plant was just expanded from 21.3 million gallons to 43 million gallons, but officials fear development could quickly use up that extra capacity.

“Around Saratoga County, things seem to happen a lot faster than you predict,” Hernandez said.

But giving an update to sewer commissioners Wednesday, he also emphasized that the existing pipe system between Saratoga and Halfmoon is close to capacity — something sewer commissioners said they knew. That could lead to growth restrictions on Wilton and Saratoga if something isn’t done to increase pipe capacity or divert their wastewater to a new plant.

Hernandez said Delaware is also looking at two possible routes for sewer lines between Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville. The first draft of its report — which will also include cost estimates — is due next month.

“The next couple of years will determine whether we need to accelerate this or put it on the shelf,” said commissioner Richard Loewenstein.

Also Wednesday, the commissioners voted to spend $117,810 to help the Wilton Water and Sewer Authority upgrade the sewage pumping station near Exit 15 that handles much of the wastewater from commercial and residential development in the town.