New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation says help is on the way to reduce phosphorus runoff into Lake Champlain. Commissioner Basil Seggos made a trip to AuSable Point State Park this week to announce the completed Lake Champlain Watershed Implementation Plan.
The State is investing nearly 450-million dollars to help communities pay for upgrades to their water treatment facilities to help reduce phosphorus from getting into the lake.
Seggos announced a 1-million-dollar grant to the Town of Peru to pay for improvements to its wastewater facility that’s nearly 40 years old and one of many in the North Country that needs critical upgrades to meet new state requirements.
The Town’s Water & Sewer Department Superintendent, Courtney Tetrault, says the money will go toward new equipment, some of which will help lower their phosphorus output. He says the town has roughly 3-and-a-half-million dollars for the project so far. However, with an overall price tag of 25-million-dollars, he says the town is now waiting, and counting on lawmakers, to provide additional funding.