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Feedback: Ogdensburg Cracks Down On Sewage Dumping

Story Published: Jul 3, 2012 at 4:57 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jul 3, 2012 at 8:05 PM EDT

Ogdensburg city officials say they don't know the extent of illegal dumping of raw sewage and other waste materials at the wastewater treatment plant over the past several months, but they plan to crack down on violators.

In the past, commercial haulers have only been required to use the honor system while disposing wastes at the city plant.

Complaints of possible illegal dumping first surfaced last fall and been ongoing.
 
"People were going in and out all hours of the day and night and dumping substances in the sewer treatment plant," said City Councilman Wayne Ashley.

Campers are allowed to dump into the city system without charge as a courtesy, but commercial haulers are required to pay a permit fee and are charged an additional 10 cents a gallon to dump at the wastewater treatment plant.

The city also maintains log-in sheets for accountability, but allegations that some haulers were making a profit on the back of the city by circumventing the honor system brought a change in procedure.
 
"If there is illegal dumping, then it can be turned over to the DEC and there could be some heavy fines for folks that are illegally dumping into sewer systems," said acting City Manager Philip Cosmo.   
 
A few weeks ago, city officials put up a 'no unauthorized dumping' sign at the sewage treatment plant.

They also installed a locking device on a manhole used to dump into the city's system.
 
"With people logging in, our staff knows exactly who's here, how much they're dumping and what type of substance they're dumping," said Ashley.
 
City officials say for the first five months of this year, nearly $13,000 in outside user fees have been collected.

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Thursday, June 20, 2013
, Watertown, NY

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