NISKAYUNA -- The town faces $37,500 in fines from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and may be forced to halt residential building projects unless it comes up with a long-range plan to fix its crumbling sewer system to meet increasing demands, according to Councilman Jonathan McKinney.

McKinney, a member of Niskayuna's Water and Sewer Committee, said Friday that the DEC in October notified Town Supervisor Joseph Landry that the town would be assessed a $7,500 fine for violating water flow regulations related to a 2003 agreement with the agency. Additionally, Niskayuna could face $30,000 more in penalties if it fails to submit a comprehensive plan by a Jan. 3 deadline.

That plan, which must be prepared by a professional engineer and ultimately be approved by the DEC, must detail all the work to the sewer system since 2003, any remaining work to be completed, and a schedule outlining how the town intends to get those repairs done by the state deadline of 2016.

The agency is going back to 2003 because that is the last time it set dry water flow limits of 2.4 millions gallons per day (as opposed to "wet water" flow from precipitation) for the Sewer District 6 collection system and wastewater treatment plant in Niskayuna. There is a second sewer district in town.

Back then, the DEC put Niskayuna on notice that new housing construction was outpacing the upgrades being made to the pipes and it needed to reduce water inflow and infiltration, according to DEC documents. By December 2003, the DEC approved a plan, the paperwork shows.

Over time, however, Niskayuna has exceeded those limits and now stands at 95 percent of its maximum capacity wet water limit of 2.85 million gallons a day. Making matters worse are cracked pipes in the system and illegal connections to the wastewater treatment plant, according to McKinney and DEC.

So, the options the town now has are to either fix the pipes or build a collection tank in front of the treatment plant to catch excess water and store it until the plant is able to process it, McKinney added.

He said the state would look at construction on a case-by-case basis.

McKinney blasted Landry for increasing spending for the recreation and senior services while slashing the infrastructure budget.

"We're at a point now where we need to stop funneling these resources toward recreation and more toward infrastructure," Mc-Kinney said. "Our focus should be paving, water, sewers, picking up leaves, removing snow, that's what government should do."

Paul Nelson can be reached at 454-5347 or by email at pnelson@timesunion.com.

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