By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

As Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) gets closer to when it will begin boring underground across Pittsburgh for its new regional tunnel system, the municipal organization is taking the time to inform Northsiders on what they can expect once the first phase of the project begins in 2025.

ALCOSAN held a public meeting on Jan. 30 at Allegheny Center Alliance Church to detail the upcoming Ohio River tunnel project, as well as the future of the overall regional tunnel system construction. While The Chronicle was unable to attend the meeting due to overlap with the February edition deadline, ALCOSAN Director of Engineering and Construction Kimberly Kennedy and Director of Operations and Maintenance and Deputy Executive Director Douglas Jackson spoke with The Chronicle over a video call to review the information presented at the meeting and answer questions.

The regional tunnel system is part of an effort by ALCOSAN to comply with a consent decree originally established in 2008 with the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the amount of sewage overflow the authority is currently dumping into Pittsburgh waterways.

Jackson said in a year with typical rainfall, ALCOSAN discharges around 9 billion gallons of undiluted sewage into the environment. This is due to ALCOSAN’s current piping system in the City of Pittsburgh being unable to handle much rainfall or snowmelt, with Jackson saying as little as one-tenth of an inch of rain being enough to cause an overflow and causing undiluted, untreated sewage to spill into rivers and streams.

Check out the March edition of The Northside Chronicle for the full story.