Lower Burrell prepares for $9.2 million sewage project

The Lower Burrell Municipal Authority and the city’s leadership are gearing up for a $9.2 million sewage project, likely the most expensive project for the city in the next decade.

The municipal authority will replace and upgrade the Big Braeburn pump station at the bottom of Edgecliff Road plus repair and replace the main line running up Edgecliff Road.

The pump station moves about one-third to one-half of the city’s sewage to New Kensington’s Municipal Sanitary Authority plant.

Councilman Chris Fabry, the city’s finance director, is concerned about the project’s cost. Officials say they don’t know how much residents’ sewage bills will increase.

“Council and the authority must explore all avenues when it comes to finding alternate funding for this project,” Fabry said. “This is the single largest expense discussed since I’ve been on council.”

The city has to replace the pumps, which are more than 30 years old, said Kevin Lettrich, chairman of the Lower Burrell Municipal Authority.

“We have pumps we can’t get parts for anymore,” he said.

In addition, the controls for the pump station are underground and become inundated with water during heavy rains, he said.

The $9.2 million project is part of the city’s long-term control plan for sewage system upgrades estimated to cost about $31 million. The Big Braeburn pump station is the largest of all of the projects on the long-term list, Lettrich added.

Like other communities in the region, Lower Burrell has been under orders by environmental agencies to update and clean up its sewage system to prevent raw or partially processed sewage from entering local waterways.

Fabry and Councilman Dave Stoltz long have complained that the environmental regulations are unfunded mandates.

Nevertheless, the city will continue to seek grants and funding options, officials said.