Asbestos found at site of Sackets sewage plant

SACKETS HARBOR — Blasting at the site of the new sewage treatment facility on Hill Street is complete, but an asbestos-coated cement pipe was discovered and will require additional funds and labor for its removal.

Cory Reid of Bernier, Carr & Associates, Watertown, said the outfall, the pipe that leads from the plant to Lake Ontario, tested positive for asbestos.

"We are working on a work plan to submit to the state Department of Labor to get approval," Mr. Reid said. "Once we get that approval, we can get a cost from the contractor."

"Worst case scenario, I'm thinking $50,000," Mr. Reid said. "That's not what any of the contractors have told us; it's just what we have seen on past projects. We're hoping it will be far less than that." The budgeted cost of the facility is $9,004,643.

The asbestos-coated pipe must be handled specially and then taken to the regional landfill in Rodman, which is certified to take asbestos-contaminated waste.

There is no threat to residents and there is a lot more leniency with how the pipe must be handled because it is outside, not in a building, said Lonnie L. Reinhardt, Department of Works superintendent.

Aside from the discovery of asbestos, the project has been running smoothly.

"We're moving along well on the project," Mayor F. Eric Constance said.

Workers from M. Hubbard Contracting Inc. are excavating for the concrete tanks that collect the waste. They will use the blasted rock to build an access road from the site to Ambrose Street, Mr. Reid said. They also have begun to install manholes.

W.D. Malone Trucking & Excavating has the pipeline contract, and Mr. Reid said it began dropping off some piping at the site and should begin installing the pipes by mid-March.