A study analyzing the construction of a tunnel system that will overhaul the treatment of storm water runoff in the U.S. will be the subject of an Allegheny County Sanitary Authority meeting.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Alcosan, which provides wastewater treatment services for customers throughout Allegheny County, will submit Act 357 planning documents to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection this summer.
Alcosan has a $2 billion Clean Water plan to overhaul the county’s treatment of storm water runoff, but it is now the subject of a lawsuit by McKees Rocks residents near a proposed work site.
The project requires municipalities to provide wastewater management and make amendments for major projects.
Additionally, part of Alcosan’s Clean Water Plan involves: the construction of a three tunnel system along an existing infrastructure that runs along the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. This is where polluted storm water will then be run to a treatment facility in Woods Run.
Some community members are against Alcosan’s proposal for launching a site in McKees Rocks, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The project would begin the boring process for a section of the tunnel system, and the lawsuit claims the launch site would deter business in the area, be less accessible to pedestrians who want to enter stores, and violate zoning ordinances.
According to Alcosan, the Act 537 plan is “the Authority’s first steps in constructing new infrastructure as part of its Regional Tunnel System,” reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Steve Engel is a South Side-based lawyer representing the borough of McKees Rocks after they announced a lawsuit. Alcosan had since filed a motion to dismiss McKees Rocks’ lawsuit, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
McKees Rocks is an area where 33% of residents live below the federal poverty line, according to Engel, and the “revitalization” of its commercial district has been a decades-long endeavor.
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