Environmental policy advocates are calling on the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority and municipalities to scale up efforts to reduce sewage overflows in the region’s waterways.
Currently, about 9 billion gallons of wastewater are discharged into Pittsburgh’s rivers each year. That’s often the result of heavy stormwater, which runs off impenetrable buildings and pavement into sewers, frequently overwhelming the area’s aging sewage system.
ALCOSAN has committed $2 billion to reduce the problem. Much of its Clean Water Plan rests on constructing several new deepwater tunnels connected to the county’s wastewater treatment plant.
A report released Wednesday by nonprofit research and policy group PennEnvironment, however, warns that even with the new tunnels, 2.7 billion gallons of sewage may still overflow into waterways annually.
To Heather Hulton VanTassel, executive director of river preservation nonprofit Three Rivers Waterkeeper, that’s unacceptable.
“We need to strive for the complete elimination of sewage in our waterways,” said VanTassel, who spoke alongside organizers with PennEnvironment at the City-County building on Wednesday.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, sewage overflows carry bacteria and viruses that can cause a range of conditions, from mild stomach cramps and diarrhea to more severe ailments, like cholera, dysentery and hepatitis. Those can be contracted through drinking water, as well as recreational contact.
ALCOSAN estimates it will complete its multi-pronged plan by 2036. That includes regionalizing several municipal wastewater treatment facilities and expanding its plant on Pittsburgh's North Side, in addition to constructing the deepwater tunnel system.
But for residents living with the realities of sewage outflows and basement backups, advocates say 2036 is too far into the future.
“That is unacceptable, and wherever possible we would push ALCOSAN and local authorities to move that timetable up,” said Dan Brown, a field organizer for PennEnvironment.
ALCOSAN spokesperson Joseph Vallarian said in a statement Wednesday evening that the longer implementation timeline keeps the affordability at the “correct level” for the region.
“It is also important to remember that after 2036, ALCOSAN is required to evaluate and plan for additional measures to eliminate the remaining overflows,” Vallarian wrote.
Still, Brown and other environmental advocates said ALCOSAN’s plan doesn’t go far enough to address neighborhood flooding, especially as climate change increases the frequency of heavy storms.
According to PennEnvironment, annual precipitation totals from 2000 to 2020 were nearly 5 inches higher than during those from 1971 to 2000. Annual rainfall could also increase by 8% by midcentury, leading to a greater volume of sewage overflows.
“That higher volume of annual precipitation will come in the form of less frequent but more intense storms, which are exactly the kind of storms that lead to these sewer overflow events,” Brown added.
To offset those effects, advocates urged both ALCOSAN and local municipalities to leverage outside funding sources to develop green infrastructure that can absorb stormwater.
That includes utilizing permeable pavement, trees and rain barrels, as well as policies to preserve forests and wetlands, which absorb stormwater naturally.
They say that would allow for a more equitable and just regional stormwater system.
Vallarian with ALCOSAN said the agency is working to assume ownership of certain infrastructure to regionalize the existing system. Within the $2 billion Clean Water Plan is several million set aside for a green revitalization grant program. Any municipality within the ALCOSAN service area can submit a project for grant funding consideration.
But VanTassel with Three Rivers Waterkeeper stressed that this model often excludes eligible, underserved communities that may not have the resources or capacity to navigate the grant application process.
“They don't have the resources or capacity to bring in that money, manage the project, provide the proper reporting, and then continue to apply for that funding,” VanTassel explained. “So, there's just a lack of capacity in those regions. It's not lack of desire.”
VanTassel and others urged ALCOSAN and local governments to look to the federal bipartisan Infrastructure Act, as well as local stormwater fees, for green development funds.
