Published: June 16, 2009 11:38 pm      

Sewage line replacement moves into next phase

CRESSON — Officials of the Cresson Municipal Authority are scheduled to close today on a $1.3 million PENNVEST loan to cover part of the cost of a second phase of sewer line upgrades.

The low-interest loan will be coupled with a $2.3 million PENNVEST grant announced in April to pay for replacement of more than three miles of pipe to reduce sewage going into the headwaters of the Little Conemaugh River.

The nearly $3.6 million project will include replacement of some of the system’s larger sewer lines, said Rich Wray of Hegemann & Wray Consulting Engineers of Cresson.

Bids were opened by the authority last week, and the contract was awarded to Guyer Bros. Inc. of New Enterprise, Bedford County.

A notice to begin will be issued Thursday, and the project will take about a year to complete, Wray said.

Work started last year on replacing antiquated and often broken water lines that had resulted in water loss as high as 50 percent. Also tackled in that $2.75 million contract with R.A. Monzo Construction Co. of Latrobe was replacement of 12,000 feet of sewer collection lines.

Work on the first phase is nearly done.

Meanwhile, authority members are hoping for approval of an additional state loan of more than $4 million needed to upgrade the 1970s-era sewage treatment plant.

A decision will be made by the PENNVEST board July 20, Wray said.

The state Department of Environmental Resources has been urging the authority to upgrade the plant, which is prone to overloads during rainy weather. The plant has a daily capacity of 1.5 million gallons, but flows measuring several times that amount have been recorded when the ground is saturated and it rains, officials said.

DEP also has raised concerns about high levels of ammonia and other chemicals from the plant. Excessive copper levels entering the headwaters could also be addressed.