Village of Cooperstown

Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades

Estimated Project Cost:
$9.1 million

Facility Capacity:
0.52 MGD

Cooperstown, a village of 1,800 residents that hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, needed to modernize its aging wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that NYSDEC described in 2015 as “old and fragile.” As a Chesapeake Bay-Significant facility on NYSDEC’s Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan, the Village was facing a substantial investment to maintain its discharge permit compliance and to safeguard future water supply.  And because the WWTP is located on the banks of an impaired segment of the Susquehanna River, development at the site required special attention to minimize impacts on the environment.

Working with the Village and WWTP operators, Delaware designed plant improvements that include a new primary clarifier, rebuilding the existing primary and secondary clarifiers, upgrades to the trickling filter and RBC biological processes, and new sludge dewatering facilities, along with various system and building improvements, including a new SCADA system.

Delaware also assisted the Village with procuring funding for the project, successfully securing a $1 million WQIP grant and a WIIA grant of approximately $880,000.  This grant funding, combined with $4 million in SAM grants from local legislators, leaves the Village with only $3.2 million to finance through NYSEFC, at 0% hardship financing for 30 years.