New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, and the Buffalo Sewer Authority (BSA) today announced an agreement to significantly improve water quality along the Niagara River and its tributaries. This landmark agreement directly benefits the region’s environmental well-being by addressing longstanding water quality violations, implementing a long-term modernization plan, and upgrading water infrastructure to help significantly reduce the amount of sewage entering the Niagara River watersheds.
“Protecting the Niagara River’s water quality is essential to preserving vital habitats and Western New York communities,” DEC Commissioner Lefton said. “Thanks to our partnership with Attorney General James and the Buffalo Sewer Authority leadership, this landmark commitment provides an environmentally sustainable path forward for Buffalo’s wastewater management. These robust actions will ensure cleaner water, address the infrastructure needs of the region’s residents, and provide the public with a seat at the table as Buffalo’s complex aging facilities are modernized.”
“Every New Yorker deserves clean, safe water,” said Attorney General James. “This agreement is a major step forward in protecting the health of Western New York families and preserving the Niagara River for generations to come. I am proud to work with DEC and the City of Buffalo to modernize this system, and my office will always fight for healthy and sustainable communities.”
The Buffalo Sewer Authority said, “Over the past decade, Buffalo Sewer has spent hundreds of millions of dollars throughout the City of Buffalo to reduce our combined overflow events almost in half; dropping the volume by over 400 million gallons per year. In this time, however it has become clear that fully implementing the 2014 Long-Term Control Plan would not be possible. We welcome this agreement to ensure that we have a clear path forward in achieving the water quality goals that we committed to in 2014 through our Queen City Clean Waters Initiative. And we are happy to announce that as part of this agreement we will be investing $100,000 in the City of Buffalo’s park system as part of our ongoing commitment to public outreach and participation.”
BSA owns and operates wastewater treatment facilities that include the Bird Island Wastewater Treatment plant and an extensive combined sewer collection system.
The system has stringent DEC permits allowing the discharge of treated sanitary wastewater and stormwater from an outfall at Bird Island. During periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, the volume of wastewater in a combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the plant that receives the wastewater for treatment. When this happens, two additional outfalls are used to discharge partially treated combined sewage at Bird Island and 52 permitted combined sewer overflows (CSOs) discharge excess wastewater containing untreated sewage directly into nearby water bodies. It is estimated that Buffalo’s combined sewer system contributes more than 1.4 billion gallons of combined sewage overflow to the Niagara River and its tributaries each year.
BSA failed to implement required sewer system improvements to ensure that combined sewer overflows complied with technology and water quality-based requirements and upgrades required under a Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP) and faced state violations for non-compliance. The agreement announced today, memorialized in a State consent judgment now under review by the State Supreme Court for Erie County, includes a revised LTCP that consists of both gray and green infrastructure projects being implemented at an estimated cost of $1 billion over a 15-year implementation schedule. BSA’s State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit will be revised by DEC to incorporate the requirements of the settlement.
In addition to typical upgrades to grey infrastructure, the LTCP also includes significant green infrastructure commitments. Green infrastructure is an environmentally friendly technique to manage stormwater which often includes green roofs, permeable pavement and other surfaces, rain gardens and restored wetlands, mimics nature by soaking up and storing water. By using vegetation, soils, and natural processes to manage water and create healthier, more resilient urban environments, green infrastructure can replace more traditional concrete, or “gray,” solutions. Green infrastructure, which includes green roofs, permeable pavement and other surfaces, rain gardens and restored wetlands, greatly reduces the amount of stormwater that is sent to a wastewater treatment plant for treatment, and therefore reduces CSOs.
The agreement also includes the payment of a $20,000 civil penalty and an environmental benefit project (EBP) valued at $100,000, to support the purchase and installation of playground equipment and educational materials about reducing Buffalo waterway pollution to help increase public awareness.
BSA continues to implement a comprehensive public participation plan for full transparency regarding the LTCP projects and water quality improvements, further illustrating the importance of preventing areas predominantly classified as a Potential Environmental Justice Areas and disadvantaged communities from further environmental harms.
Through a variety of water infrastructure funding sources since 2019, New York State invested more than $39 million to rehabilitate and upgrade infrastructure at the Buffalo Sewer Authority, including an August 2024 investment of a $3,333,000 grant and $3,147,000 in interest-free financing from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the planning, design, and construction of sewer system real time control sites.
A full implementation schedule is available on BSA’s website. (PDF)