BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A multi-million dollar investment is designed to make a big piece of Western New York cleaner.
During a press conference on Wednesday on Bird Island Pier, Mayor Byron Brown announced that millions of dollars is coming to the Bird Island Treatment Facility for a Secondary System Rehabilitation and Updates project. The facility off of Niagara Street was first built in the 1930s.
"Upgrading this facility continues our efforts and as part of my administration's commitment to rebuild for an even strong, healthier and more sustainable Buffalo," Brown said.
The upgrade is well overdue as the facility has not seen any major changes in decades.
"This is the infrastructure that you don't see. What you rely on every single day to give you clean and safe drinking water," Congressman Brian Higgins said.
Coming on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, $55.85 million of federal and state funding is going toward improving treatment and reducing sewer overflows.
"We know that our community has been overlooked for many years. That's not happening anymore, and we have a governor, Kathy Hochul, that's helping to make sure that Buffalo is at the front of the conversations, not at the back end," said Senator Tim Kennedy.
The project is broken down into three phases with completion set for 2029. Some of the goals include:
- resolving longstanding violations of the Clean Water Act, according to a press release from the Governor's office
- reducing untreated sewage discharge into the Niagara River
- ensuring you have cleaner, healthier water in your homes
"It is not an end. It's only the beginning of our efforts to continue clean up our waterways because it's an issue of life and death," Higgins said.
