By Tom Hoffman of the Sierra Club

Last Fall in a packed meeting room in the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill, 75 Pittsburgh residents gathered to hear about the long range importance of building the Four Mile Run green infrastructure project in Schenley Park and learn how they could help make this dream a reality.

Four Mile Run Community Meeting in 2017

Our region needs to prove to the EPA in 5 years that green solutions can work to fix our sewage overflow problem. The Four Mile Run green project will not only help mitigate flooding in the Run, but it will play a key role in making the case to federal regulators that our region is capable of and is committed to a major green first effort to remove 9 billion gallons of sewage from our rivers. In five years those regulators will need to see large scale, monitored, operating projects that are cleaning sewage out of our rivers.

Thanks to support from the attendees at that meeting, the Mayor’s Capital Budget  which passed recently included funding to complete the final design of the Four Mile Run green infrastructure project! The next step is to draw up actual construction plans and put them out to bid. The oversight for the project has shifted from the Parks Conservancy to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. An RFP for final designs to make the project ready for construction are expected to be put out in the next few days.

Four Mile Run green infrastructure concept designs

The Clean Rivers Campaign played a key role in winning the money in the Mayor’s budget for 4 Mile Run. We are now shifting our attention to winning funding for construction of the project. We are also working to get other projects like the projects in Saw Mill Run and the Negley Run/Heth’s Run project funded and built.

A critical part of PWSA’s city-wide green plan are specific strategies to expand ALCOSAN’s ability to handle more water during heavy rain events. This expanded capacity works in conjunction with the green infrastructure to reduce the sewage going into our rivers. It would include specific modifications to the plant as well as maintenance and cleaning of the existing sewer lines and interceptors. These modifications could start almost immediately and would produce a large number of good paying union jobs in the near future.

The CRC is also supporting the efforts of the Our Water Campaign to keep PWSA public. Any attempt to privatize or do major restructuring in the Authority would very likely stall the implementation of the green projects as well as keeping our water safe and affordable.

Stay tuned for more activities in 2018. Contact Aly Shaw at aly@pittsburghunited.org for more information or to get involved.

Recently through a program called the GROW Program, ALCOSAN awarded the approximately $9 million in grants to support source reduction and green infrastructure projects throughout their service area. This program is a good first step towards developing a region-wide, green first approach to our region’s sewer overflow and stormwater problems.

However, these investments are only the first step and a drop in the bucket in what will be the largest public works project our region has ever seen. In order for a green-first plan to be successful region-wide, ALCOSAN’s GROW program must be part of a scientific study that expands on the PWSA Citywide Green-First plan, they must increase the program’s funding to a total of at least $50 million in the next year, and they must remove the cap of $1 million in order to allow for larger and potentially more effective projects.

Our region has the opportunity to significantly invest in green solutions that will not only reduce combined sewer overflows but will also reduce flooding, fight climate change, and revitalize our communities. To have the most impact, ALCOSAN must quickly expand on PWSA’s green first study that addresses these problems holistically on a watershed level and invest more funds into green infrastructure projects.

As ALCOSAN continues to improve and expand the GROW program, they should also seek input from ratepayers and municipal officials who are paying for this important regional investment.

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In Pittsburgh, the Climate and Urban Systems Partnership program, housed in the Carnegie Museum held a three hour Green Infrastructure Communication Workshop for organizations involved in installation and planning for GI projects. Tom Hoffman represented the Sierra Club and the Clean Rivers Campaign and presented on the success of the campaign’s messaging about green. He talked about the importance of communicating the community benefits and environmental justice aspects for successful green infrastructure projects.

For photos and more information check out the CUSP website here!

Following years of research and planning, Mayor Peduto and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority have released a complete Clean and Green plan for Pittsburgh.

Read the full plan here and make sure to send your comments to PWSA here!

“The Clean Rivers Campaign and ratepayers around the City commend the Mayor and PWSA for taking the lead in creating a citywide, green-first plan that will revitalize our neighborhoods, prevent flooding, clean our waterways, and fight climate change locally,” said Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy, Director of the Clean Rivers Campaign.

According to the PWSA study, careful and strategic placement of new green infrastructure coupled with fixing the existing system could meet the first phase EPA requirements for cleaning our rivers while also reducing or preventing flooding in problem areas, and resulting in cleaner air and more green space, all at a lower cost than previously projected.

The Clean and Green plan, which the Campaign believes should be fully adopted by ALCOSAN as the means of fixing our outdated sewer system, will save money, but the cost will still be born by ratepayers, and they’ve made it clear that they want to see that money invested back into their communities through common sense green solutions. “I believe ratepayers will see this as an investment in our communities. Rate increases will be tough, so we have to see this money come back to our neighborhoods through community benefits, jobs, and customer assistance programs,” said Pittsburgh resident, Billie Vaughn.

ALCOSAN ratepayers who live outside of Pittsburgh want to see the plan expanded regionally so that they can see the same benefits for their investment. “I like the City’s plan to invest in green infrastructure, but I’m concerned that my municipality will not receive the same benefits for our investment. I would like to see this plan expanded to the whole region, not just Pittsburgh,” said Dormont Council Member, Kate Abel.

Ratepayers in surrounding municipalities will also be calling on leaders at ALCOSAN to adopt the Clean and Green plan for the entire region. If you live in the ALCOSAN service area and want to see this plan adopted for the entire region, sign a letter here to the Board Chair of ALCOSAN and let him know that you support this green-first approach!