POUGHKEEPSIE – The City of Poughkeepsie has been awarded an approximate $3.5 million state grant to reduce groundwater infiltration into the sanitary sewer system, combating the impacts of water runoff that can overwhelm the city’s sewer system and cause “combined sewer overflows” or CSOs.
A chief goal of the $356 million grant is to provide better environmental protection for the city by making repairs to an existing, aging sewer line that extends from approximately Winnikee Avenue to High Street paralleling the Fall Kill Creek.
Much of the city’s sewer system is more than 100 years old and in several instances, sanitary discharge is combined with stormwater runoff before entering the treatment plant.
The city has been addressing potential sources of inflow and infiltration within the sanitary sewer collection system and is particularly focused on sewer overflows that discharge into the Hudson River when overcapacity occurs during storm events.
While Poughkeepsie is in compliance with all state regulations, they are working to mitigate combined sewer overflows, and this is an integral project in that strategy.
Mayor Rob Rolison said the grant allows the city to continue the work of addressing the city’s aging infrastructure “while lessening our reliance on long-term borrowing in order to do so. Limiting long-term borrowing continues to be an important aspect of our financial management plan. As prior bond issuances are retired, we look forward to declining debt service costs in coming years, and it is large grants for infrastructure projects like this one that have a tremendous positive impact on our community.”
