The Niagara Falls Water Board has poured $40 million into improvements to its wastewater treatment system since an ugly and stinky discharge of black water near Niagara Falls in 2017 that drew international scrutiny and the ire of then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Under pressure from the U.S. EPA and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the Buffalo Sewer Authority has reduced the amount of wastewater flowing into waterways. But as costs soar, the sewer authority is running out of time to meet its promises to fix the problem.
The nearly completed upgrades, ordered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, greatly reduce the chances of a similar incident happening again – at least in the short term, according to Niagara Falls Water Board Executive Director Abderrahman Zehraoui.
But even with the improvements, treated effluent “is likely to remain an issue of public concern” because it pours out at a visible location near the popular Maid of the Mist docks, and current treatment plant technology can’t produce a clear discharge, Zehraoui said in a written statement to The News.
The Water Board is pushing to move the discharge line below the Niagara River waterline and convert the wastewater treatment plant from carbon filtration to a…
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