$20M for plant that spewed black water near Niagara Falls

The aging sewage treatment plantresponsible for a stinky black discharge at Niagara Falls over thesummer is in line for an overhaul.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday proposed spending $20million to begin improvements at the Niagara Falls WastewaterTreatment Facility. He will include the plan in his 2018 State ofthe State address.

"The impacts of our aging water infrastructure becameintolerable this year after multiple discharges discoloured thepristine waters at Niagara Falls," Cuomo said in a statement.

His proposal also includes $500,000 for two engineering studiesmeant to guide the upgrades.

"It feels like Christmas today," said Niagara Falls Water Board chair Daniel O'Callaghan, whose agency oversees the plant.

The state fined the Niagara Falls Water Board $50,000 afterdiscoloured water spewed into the Niagara River and enveloped theMaid of the Mist tour boat dock in view of tourists July 29.

The discharge was largely blamed on human error but focusedattention on the 40-year-old facility's inability to handle thevolume of sewer and storm water it receives.Several overflows havebeen discharged into the river since the July 29 episode, which wasinvestigated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

"What happened in Niagara Falls was a big wake-up call for a lotof people," said Elizabeth Moran, water and natural resourcesdirector for Environmental Advocates of New York. The group hascalled for $800 million in grant funding in this year's budget tobegin to meet infrastructure needs statewide.

"I think before Niagara Falls hit national news, a lot of peopledidn't realize that sewage overflow events are actually somethingthat plague not just Niagara Falls but all of New York and manyareas throughout the country," Moran said.

The Niagara Falls Water Board has said the July dischargehappened when workers at the treatment plant let a pump run for toolong while emptying a basin that contained residue from the cleaningof carbon filters.