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$27 million going to troubled water treatment plant

The governor's office has announced a multi-million dollar project to help prevent sewage from going into the Niagara River.

NIAGARA FALLS, NY - For those who remember the huge discharge of sewer water in the Lower Niagara River by Niagara Falls two summers ago, you remember the embarrassment the city faced in how this could even happen.

Governor Andrew Cuomo's office announced a multi-million dollar project to help prevent sewage from going into the Niagara River.

It wasn't just the large plume of sewer water that concerned onlookers, including tourists at Niagara Falls, but also the awful smell of sewage spewing into the Lower Niagara River.

That sewage came from the Niagara Falls Waste Water Treatment Plant.

And while, state investigators found the incident occurred largely because of employee error, they highlighted many mechanical issues at the plant and the excessive build up of sludge.

The governor's office announced the $27 million, half of which will come from the state and half from the Niagara Falls Water Board, will be used to upgrade the water treatment plant with changes to equipment, water treatment systems, heating and ventilation.

REPORTER: Is it your understanding that this money is going to put to an end the issues of the black sludge or the discharging into the Niagara River?

"It's going to help, I think, to reduce. I don't know if in of itself, eliminate combined sewer overflows during storm events entirely," said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster.

REPORTER: What is the signature or the most important aspect of the improvements there?

"There's nothing that really stands out. Oh that's, it that's the silver bullet that's going to solve this problem," Dyster said. "Some of the mundane things that they're talking about doing with these dollars things in the absence of this funding would've been out of reach in their operations and maintenance in their budget is going to make the plant function far better than it has in many many years."

REPORTER: Some may wonder why state taxpayers have to pay for this when it's a water board project and the water board should be responsible for handling its own business?

"Well, the state is investing in clean water for the entire state and this is a clean water issue," said state Assembly Member Angelo Morinello.

And the state says because of previous repairs to the facility, such as improvements to how sludge is processed, there haven't been any discharges like the one we saw two summers ago, in over a year.

2 On Your Side reached out to the water board for an on camera interview Wednesday, but no one from the water board agreed to be interviewed. The Governor's Office tells us these upgrades need to happen according to a consent order the water board has with the state. However, we haven't been told when they'll actually happen. The state and the water board have said they're looking at projects to keep the treatment facility going long-term.

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