Sewer renovations get a funding boost

McVEYTOWN - A sewer expansion need that was first identified in 1995 is finally slated to be addressed through a $2 million project.

Residents of Oliver Township will be benefiting from a project that involves the installation of 17,300 feet of new sewage lines and 38 grinder pumps required to extend sewer service to 70 homes along U.S. 522 from the McVeytown Borough line to about 600 feet east of Wakefield Road.

Oliver Township recently received state financing for the McVeytown East Sanitary Sewer Expansion Project, in the form of an almost $2 million grant along with an approximately $500,000 low-interest loan through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, according to a release issued by Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte.

The release states that residents are currently facing the potential of raw or inadequately treated waste contaminating their water wells, along with many experiencing on-lot septic system malfunctions where raw sewage is being discharged into the Juniata River.

The engineering consultant working on the project, Chuck Walls of Buchart-Horn Inc., said the need was first identified in 1995 when the township completed an Act 537 sewage facility plan as required by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The project was enlarged after additional sewage problems cropped up over the years, with the original project only included half the area the current project encompasses, Walls said.

After receiving the grant money and the loan through Pennvest in October, the township has about eight months to complete the bidding process, which Walls said hope to be done in May 2010.

The new infrastructure will be connecting to the existing McVeytown Sewer System and will be processed at the McVeytown plant, Walls said. A financial agreement has been discussed, but not yet finalized, between McVeytown and Oliver Township for the transportation and process of the sewage, Walls said. Oliver Township residents may be required to pay a one-time connection fee similar to what residents of McVeytown pay, he added.

If all goes as planned, construction on the project is slated to begin in June or July 2010 and completed by the fall or early winter of that year.