The chief of staff for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto reiterated concerns today about the planned installation of a dozen "drop shafts" to connect Alcosan’s existing sewers to storage tunnels in an effort to stop the discharge of raw sewage into local rivers during heavy rain.
Flanked by environmentalists and other advocates at a news conference this morning at Allegheny Landing Park, Kevin Acklin blamed the plan on “bureaucrats in Washington” who are taking a traditional “gray-first” infrastructure approach.
“I said, 'You're not going to come to our city ... and build tunnels to tear up our riverfronts, with our money, to put it on the rate payers, unless we're part of the solution,’ ” he said, referencing a meeting this week with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice officials.
Mr. Acklin said he and other local environmentalists want to see the plan focus on natural, green components first.
Federal regulators have given the sanitary authority until 2026 to reduce sewage overflows. The authority's proposed solution features tunnels, more than 100 feet underground, to store water until its Woods Run treatment plant can process it. A draft map includes up to 18 drop shafts.
Organizers of the press conference lay an 8,000-square-foot plastic tarp over Allegheny Landing Park this morning, marking what they said was a would-be drop shaft area.
On Wednesday, an Alcosan spokeswoman said the number of shafts and their locations won’t be determined for years and construction won’t begin until the 2020s.
First Published: November 19, 2015, 5:11 p.m.