Wastewater system plan advances in New Hampshire

A wastewater system upgrade worth millions of dollars is currently being planned in a New Hampshire city.

The municipality of Portsmouth first began looking to enhance its Pierce Island-based wastewater treatment facilities in 2007, when local authorities notified the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the necessity to further treat wastewater released into the Piscataqua river.

Assistant city attorney Suzanne Woodland said that the consent decree which was due to be presented to the city council last night would enable officials to make their decision on the development by summer 2010.

"This decree is the legal mechanism by which the EPA and the state's (department of environmental services) makes sure the city will move forward with necessary upgrades to storm-water and wastewater facilities," she told Foster's Daily Democrat.

Meanwhile, CBS 6 Albany reported recently that the New York state department of environmental conservation is conducting investigations into the cause of a failure at the Village of Granville's 70-year-old sewer plant which resulted in the spillage of thousands of gallons of wastewater into a nearby river.

Written by Claire Manning