August 22, 2024 • 27 mins
Technically speaking, ALCOSAN only has 83 customers, the municipalities that rely on us to treat their wastewater and transform it from dirty to clean; but, within those municipalities, nearly 900,000 people rely on our services. https://www.alcosan.org/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
And welcome in. This is the CEO's You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Hartwell, let's say hello to Doug Jackson.
Oh alca San. Good to see you, Thank you for
coming in.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
So tell us everything we need to know about al Caacan.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Yeah. So, since nineteen fifty nine, most don't realize it, Elkassan,
the Allegany County Sanitary Authority has been providing wastewater treatment
services to over eight hundred thousand folks within the region
twenty four seven, three sixty five.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
And you have something big coming up, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So there we're heading into our annual open house that's
this September fourteenth, from nine am to four pm. But
leading up to that, we have our summer Sweepsteaks campaign
leading up to the six weeks prior to that fantastic day.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So that's going on right now. So the open house,
where's that located for people who don't know the al
Caasan location?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yep. So our main treatment plant and our only location
is at thirty three hundred Prebble Avenue down in the
city of Pittsburgh, generally on the city side, right underneath
the McKees rocks Bridge.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Now, the thing is, I've been to your open house.
Now I think who would come to this, and to
be honest with you, what you think is happening and
what really happens is like the difference between shooting a
bullet and throwing a bullet. You do have quite you
throw quite a festival, don't you.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It's pretty amazing when you think in the fall of
the year, with all the activities going on with school
activities for kids that are back to school and colleges
with football games, that you'll get several thousand people that
will take time out of their day to come to
an open house to see a wastewater treatment facility. Pretty amazing.
(01:43):
I was a naysayer, i think, early on, to think
that folks would be all that interested. But when I
think of the history of the organization and the service
that it provides of cleaning over seventy plus billion gallons
a year of polluted wastewater and sending it back in
to the river, it really is an amazing facility. And
our open house has become more of a showcase for
(02:06):
us to be able to show to the general public
side of a utility that they probably know the least about.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
And you've really made it a family friendly event, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
So we focus part of our core mission is to
educate folks and some of that is the rate payers
and the parents, but a lot of that is the
children and the youth within the region as well from
a stem from a scholastic outreach perspective. So when you
think about wastewater treatment, you don't think that there would
be a family spin on it. But between our mascot
(02:40):
Frankie the Fish, and between our interactive plumbers display where
youth can put on a raincoat and see different valves
and pumps and water going in various locations. Plus the
parents get the opportunity to learn about various programs that
we have that can help them pay for bills that
they may be struggling with as well. It really is
(03:00):
an open house for our four hundred plus employees that
we have at the treatment plant and really showcase, showcase
all the great things that we do for the region.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
And this event is free.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
It is It is free to the public, rain or shine.
It is a nine am to four pm. There have
been some years it has rained, but not very many years.
We've gone through COVID this is our going beyond our
twentieth year of doing it. But yeah, it is completely free.
We will provide you with a meal as well while
(03:33):
you were there. I'm not sure that that's what brings
people back year to year, but there are various hands
on activities for youth. There is I'm partial as the
director of operations and maintenance of the facility as well.
We will have almost half a billion dollars worth of
construction going on at a treatment plant that's an operation,
and we will bust you through the facility and you
(03:54):
will see things that will amaze you. You will see
this year big construction vehicles that are down there warders
and cranes, and you will take a tour of one
of our newest facilities, our environmental compliance facility, where all
of our just fascinating laboratory work is being done to
really keep us in compliance with all the federal, state
(04:14):
and local requirements were required to maintain.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I'm really glad you brought up the you know, the
improvements that are going on with al Caasan because more
than twenty years ago, the radio and television organizations used
to have something called ascertainments, and this would allow organizations
you know, some are nonprofits, some utilities, politicians whomever. They
(04:39):
gave them an opportunity to address the radio and television
community and you as the organization. ALCACAN used to send
it representative every year, and I remember twenty years ago
they said, listen, there is going to be an infrastructure
that needs to be presented here and it's going to
cost I can't remember the number of it was like
(05:00):
something like fifty million. And then the year later we
see the same representative. It was like, it's going to
be one hundred million. And then a year after that
it was like, listen, there is this needs to be
addressed now, otherwise it's going to be a multi billion
dollar infrastructure that needs to be addressed. And that was
(05:21):
twenty years ago, and it's you guys are still in
the process of being able to I don't think it
made me realize of oh wow, this is ALCASAN does
a whole lot more than what I think they do.
Is that something that you guys face people really don't
understand exactly what you do. And the terrain of Pittsburgh
(05:45):
presents a major issue for ALKUSAN. Can you can you
address some of those?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah? Absolutely so I'm going to try to tackle that
in two different ways. So one from a historical perspective,
we've only been in operation, I say, only since nineteen
fifty nine. So if you think of the early part
of nineteen fifty nine, you had a very robust city
with industry and residences, and there was probably one percent
of the region that had any public sewerage. Most of
(06:10):
the sewage within the region, rainwater, commercial, industrial, residential waste
all went directly into the rivers. That took years to
plan for a facility that ultimately made its way down
along the rivers. Things flow downhill as the topography makes it,
and it makes its way into the treatment plan. So
when we look at the history of the region of
(06:32):
water quality and looking at how wastes are treated, there's
the nineteen fifty nine the treatment plan first goes into operation,
and then the federal government and the seventies comes out
with a Clean Water Act where we had to make
significant improvements to address improving water quality within the region.
And in the nineties there's another policy that comes out
that basically identifies overflows. It occurred during rain events where
(06:58):
sewage directly goes into the river untreated. That happens to
be part of a federal consent decree that we're under
right now with the EPA, the State dep local Health Department,
and it's to address not days like today where it's
not raining, where days where it's raining and the treatment
plant and the region sewer system just doesn't have enough
(07:20):
capacity and there are billions of gallons of wastewater during
those times where they will go into the local waterway.
So our clean water plan is to address those overflows
when they occur, and that is part of our as
you said many years ago. So now it is at
least a two billion dollar program that we have, which
is only the first phase of it, but it really
(07:42):
is to address those overflows that occur because of rain
events of where storm water gets contaminated with sewage, and
the federal government has gone to other parts of the
region and address it. It's not just a Pittsburgh thing.
It's also a Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington, d C. So it's
not just a localized regional issue. But for the City
(08:03):
of Pittsburgh it is without a doubt. It will be
its largest infrastructure project within the region. It will include
plan expansion to take our capacity from two hundred and
fifty million gallons per day to six hundred million gallons
per day.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
We will be see is that going to be enough
even for the city?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
It will not so. From the perspective of our approach
for dealing with the problem, we have four pillars to
our approach. One of them is taking the treatment plant
right now and building it to as large of a capacity,
squeezing it into the fifty nine acres that you have
down there with the river and you have the rail
on one side and you have industry on the other side.
We will also be taking over ownership of more sewage
(08:44):
piping that's in the region. That will help us from
a planning perspective. We will help incentivize some of the
region to find ways to keep storm water out of
the sewer system. And then ultimately the largest financial component
I think of our program is a large underground tunnel
system that we will start construction of that at the
(09:06):
end of next year. It will be eighteen foot diameter
tunnel just in concept, about one hundred and fifty feet
below the ground that will go four miles underneath and
along the rivers that on a daylight today it's empty,
but when it starts to rain. Those tunnels will fill
up with stormwater contaminated sewage, and instead of going into
(09:26):
the local streams and rivers and waterways affecting that water quality,
it will be released to the treatment planned in order
to try to reduce the billions of gallons annually that
overflow into the region. And that is essentially the first
phase of our overall weather plan.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, like I mentioned, this is something that you foresaw
two decades ago. And do you think the engineering is
kept up with where you need to go and what
you said? This is phase one? What are the additional phases?
What's going to happen down the line? And I'm sure
that you get this all the time. How do we
(10:07):
pay for a two billion dollar infrastructure program like this?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Right? Yeah? So the first phase we will determine what
needs to be done in the future. After we've finished
the first phase, and we'll do water quality analysis, we'll
take measurements in the rivers and the waterways and see
if we're attaining the goals of the clarity and the
If you think of the rivers, they're massive body of water,
bodies of water, they're very forgiving. We contribute a small
(10:33):
percentage to what flows through the city of Pittsburgh. Obviously
the miles are very lengthy. But our program is to
attain water quality goals within the region being addressed by
sewage overflow. So at the end of the twenty thirty
six time period, when all of our construction of all
these tunnels and plane expansions are done, we will then
(10:54):
do an assessment period of water quality and that will
tell us what, if any improvements are needed at that time.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So when you talk about improvements, what is the advantage
of having those improvements?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Right, So when you look at the waterways that we
have today and you think of nineteen fifty eight and
nineteen fifty eight, before there wasn't Elkastan, the rivers were
considered more, I would say, of the landfills back in
the day, it was a place to dump trash, garbage, sewage.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Well, just last week you had you know, they're pulling
old cars out of the river and I couldn't imagine
that there was that many vehicles in the river very
close to the point I was done.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, pretty amazing when I saw those as well. But
you think of what those rivers and how robust they
are to have, you know, sustained, you know, the water
quality that they have in spite of some of the
many many years of industrial pollution discharge and going back
(11:55):
in time, it was acid mind drainage. And you look
at the improvements of water quality within the region. Ultimately,
you know, selfishly, I think I like to take some
credit for the organization being part of the overall improvements
in the river. You look at all of the river development,
of residential activity that's happening along the rivers, You got
(12:17):
the trails. You never would have thought you would have
had a bass master's tournament in the city of Pittsburgh
and all those different things that go into it. And
you wouldn't have any of those things be done if
you didn't have a quality that didn't cause and contribute
to health issues with those that came in direct contact
with it. So I think that is the immediate improvement
(12:39):
that folks will see by having less sewage overflows at
a car. But if you remember, we're we're at the
we're at the mouth of the Ohio River. The Ohio
River is a massive body of water that flows for
miles and ultimately into the Gulf. And when the federal
government looks at water quality of things that are happening
at the golf. They look at all lengths of the
(13:01):
river and look at who the contributors are to various
forms of pollution, whether or not it's sewage discharges, or
whether or not it's rainwater discharges, or whether or not
it's a discharge from some unique industry. It all ties
into the water quality not only of the localized region,
but both upstream and down.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Well, that's what I was going to ask you. Upstream
when you go for the headwaters of the Alleghany or
the Monongahela, are there communities that are also helping or
are there communities that aren't nearly as advanced? And does
that present a problem for you down here close to
the the you know, the confluence.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So the issues are probably a little bit more less
impactful to us than they are from the regulatory perspective.
So the folks that regulate the water bodies have to
go to the various sources of dischargers. Fortunately for us,
we're mostly within Alleghany County and we don't have discharges
or facilities outside of the county. So really you look
(13:58):
at what the water quality is coming into the region,
and you look at the water quality leaving the region.
And that's how you get some sense of what impact
you're having on improving or degrading the water quality within
the region. You look at what's coming in and what's
going out. But with the miles of upstream rivers and
water waste, each of those other dischargers to those communities
(14:22):
would have some regulatory obligation to meet the requirements of
whatever those discharges of water were to the water wasys.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Okay, So those discharges have they have their own they
will little infrastructure things that they have to take care of.
And I'm sorry that, I mean, I'm sounding naive when
it comes to this, but I'm just curious on because
the water isn't just stagnant. It's just not a lake,
it's not a river. It's I mean, it's a river.
It's going to flow in and it's going to flow out.
So as where does Alka San's obligation end when it
(14:56):
comes to the Ohio River, Because then you're moving into
another state, in different states then ultimately to the Mississippi.
So where do you, guys, where does your responsibility end?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So our biggest discharge is at the treatment plane itself,
which is pretty close to the furthest point down river
on the Ohio for us, So that would be the
most notable discharge to the waterway that we have a
point source that you know, on days like it rained previously,
we're discharging two hundred and fifty million gallons per day,
(15:30):
which sounds like a large number, but as I mentioned,
that's a small percentage of the volume of the Ohio
River that's there as well. Ultimately, like they did on
the other side of the state with the Chesapeake pay,
if the regulators felt that there were measurable impacts to
we'll say the Gulf of Mexico, they could go the
whole way up the Mississippi and the Ohio and put
(15:52):
regulations not only on wastewater treatment plants, but sometimes you
will have storm water runoff, you will have agricultural runoff
from lands and farms that all have pollutants in them
that contribute to all of the downstream issues that are there.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Pittsburgh has a very odd topography does that present certain
problems for accusans.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
So it helps and hurts. So from the perspective of
it being hilly, the challenge is if you're trying to
stop water from flowing and trying to keep it at
the surface. It's very challenging. The good part of it
is it all wants to flow downhill, and by it
all flowing downhill, all of the flow that generally comes
(16:36):
to the treatment plant mostly comes by gravity, which may
not sound like much, but the electricity costs of wastewater
treatment process sometimes to get the wastewater to the treatment
plant is a measurable component of annual budget. So you
go to a Cleveland or you know, Cleveland's probably a
good one, but you go to the Midwest where it's
(16:56):
all flat, there are multiple times the polluted waste water
has to be pumped using large equipment to get to
the treatment plant because it's so flat. For us, as
I mentioned before, we're downhill or at the end of
the pipe, so it mostly flows to us, and when
it gets to us, it's one hundred feet below the
ground when it gets to the treatment plan, and then
(17:18):
we have to pump that out of infrastructure that was
created about up one hundred feet, which part of our
open house has taken folks to see that pump station
and look down one hundred feet over a handrail and
you see who's scared heights pretty quick. But that's one
of those things that as we go forward, we will
be similarly building infrastructure that will now take a pipe
(17:41):
that's fifty feet deeper than our existing infrastructure. It will
be larger in diameter, and it will be discharging to
the treatment plant as well, which begs to some of
the costs of the program.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
All right, you mentioned some of the infrastructure changes that
are happening over the next twelve years. What has ALCA
sand Don over the last past twelve years to improve
the water quality here in.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Pittsburgh, Right, So the biggest thing and most notable is
we are on the cusp of changing the capacity of
the treatment plan. So one of our four pillars was
to take the capacity of the treatment plant from its
current value of two hundred and fifty million gallons per
day and taking it to up to six hundred million
gallons per day. So early on it was determined that
(18:26):
by expanding the capacity at the treatment plant, that is
the quickest bang for your buck. So being able to
buy soon the end of twenty twenty four, will be
putting some processes online. By the end of twenty twenty five,
we'll be putting additional we will be up to four
hundred and eighty million gallons per day, and that will
(18:46):
measurably during rain events be able to reduce those overflows significantly. Ultimately,
it won't be till the tunnel is captured and the
tunnel is constructed that we'll be able to get the
full capacity city up to six hundred million gallons per
day and the heavier, heavier rain storms. But a lot
of these nickel dime if you will, rain storms that
(19:10):
occur right now, A lot of the capacity that we'll
be adding in into the next year or two will
really minimize the amount of times and periods that we're
in overflow.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
So in nineteen fifty eight, fifty nine, when Alkasan is
being presented to me, that was the height of Pittsburgh's population,
that was the boom. The fact that population in Pittsburgh
is being diminished, is that somewhat helpful you're getting? Is that? No?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, So it goes both ways. So you know, I
have infrastructure that's in the ground that's well over fifty years,
well over one hundred years in some cases in the city,
and it's one of those it's infrastructure that most people
don't pay that much attention to. I often say, if
somebody's waterline in front of their house is broke, can
usually know because it's water spewing everywhere. And similar for
(20:03):
the other utilities, with the exception of some of the
sewage infrastructure that's out there, if it has a crack
and a pipe, unless it's backing up into somebody's basement,
I'm not sure anybody really knows or cares. But in
a lot of cases that old piping has cracks in
it that lets groundwater from the soil get into the
(20:24):
system and that all comes to Elkasan. So that's all
additional flows that we've seen increase over the years, even
though the population itself hasn't necessarily increased. So while population
growth perhaps back from the fifties hasn't got to the
point where it was projected to be, we're still treating
flows within the region that are comparable to what was projected,
(20:47):
even without the growth in population.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And an older infrastructure which presents even more problems. Absolutely
all right, So your goal is you mentioned twenty thirty six.
Do you think that there's going to have to be
significant improvements after thirty twenty thirty six?
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So it's anticipated that there will be so when we
originally put a plan together to the federal government back
in twenty twelve, our total plan for full compliance was
three point six billion dollars to be in compliance. And
again we talked about the financial side. While the federal
government tells you what you need to do, they're also
not kicking in an awful lot of cash to help
(21:30):
fund this, So the burden really goes on the rate
payers that we have within our region that have a
water service that's connected to us. That's where the burden
ultimately ends up coming out to be. So for us,
we felt the region can afford two billion dollars of
improvements without overburdening a percentage of what folks are paying
(21:53):
for for sewer sewer service. What is good is that
in that time period after construction, we will have an
extensive testing and sampling program to truly see what the
region really needs. So it allows us to spend money
that we know that will be measurable and it will
be impactful. How impactful that will be to waterway. Some
(22:15):
of those challenges are based upon what weather conditions are
at those time periods as well. I think we all
acknowledge that weather seems to be a little bit more
intense at times, and sometimes that impacts programs and plans.
And by twenty thirty six we will see in another
decade from now kind of where things are within the
region and have to assess what's necessary to meet the
(22:39):
water quality that's expected.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
When you talk about the burden and the Pittsburgh taxpayers,
I'm sure you receive some pushback, but have they understood
the extensive infrastructure that is needed.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yep. So that is probably our biggest challenge. I have
been with the authority for going on thirty four years,
and over those years and even prior to that, very
few folks. We're the one utility I think the folks
know the least about because they're not typically writing checks
to el Casan anymore like they once did. So when
(23:20):
we looked at forecasting what rate increases we're going to
be within the region back in twoenty twelve, Fortunately, both
the condition of the financial markets as well as our spending,
we've gone below where the projected rate increases we're going
to be. But the challenge still is for somebody that's
(23:43):
not writing a check to el Caasan and part of
a sewer or water bill that they're paying to some
other utility that has an elkasin component in it. I
think that is what spearheaded our executive director of Arletta Williams,
to take us from the utility that was out of sight,
(24:04):
out of mind, and put it in the forefront of
folks minds, both in the media side scholastic outreach. Our
open house is really our way to get to as
many customers as we can, to create those relationships so
folks understand who we are and what we do, but
also understand the service that we truly provide to the region.
(24:27):
You're treating seventy billion plus gallons of polluted water that
nobody wants to see, touch, or do anything with, and
we're taking one hundred and ten thousand tons per year
of some solid waste pollution out of that waste water,
and we're doing it out of sight, out of mind,
but ultimately for the rate increases, Folks want to see
(24:50):
what their money is being spent on, and come into
our open house this year, you'll see several hundred thousand
dollars worth of construction ongoing, and you'll hear about our
massive plans for tunnel infrastructure in the years to come.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Let's finish with the open house. Tell us everything we
need to know about the event.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I'll be honest with you, It truly is an amazing
I will call it it an environmental showcase of not
only water recycling and waste reuse at our facility, but
it really is a testament to showcase the great things
for the three hundred and ten square miles of Ellegany
(25:28):
County that the Eleganty County Sanitary Authority provides wastewater treatment,
for the four hundred plus folks that we have working
that have different skills and backgrounds and educations. It is
fun for the kids. It's something to come and do
in the morning and go watch your kids soccer or
baseball in the afternoon, even if you're able to come
(25:50):
down for an hour or two, so we do extra
credit for some school kids. We're always trying to get
different activities in there to make it be engaging for
the folk folks. Obviously, the free food is usually sometimes
a grabber for folks to come. We have you know,
gus and yah yah they had been their previous they'll
be back, at least part of them will be back
(26:12):
this year with some popcorn and some cotton candy for
so it really is a showcase not of not only
of environmental but you know, the region that we support
and are so very proud of what we do.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
It's a free family event. What is the day and
what are the times?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yep. So it's coming up this September fourteenth from nine
am to four pm. Leading up to that, please go
to Elkasan's website www dot Elkasan dot org and take
advantage not only of the pre registration see if there
are any open house tours left as well, but also
(26:48):
take advantage of some of our summer sweepstakes. Leading up
to that. Each week we will have weekly giveaways to
try to encourage folks to learn a little bit more
about Elkasan, who we are and what we do, and
also encourage you to tend our fantastic open house.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Get more information at Alkasan dot org. Doug Jackson from Alkasan,
It's a pleasure, Thank you so much, enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
This has been the CEOs you Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Heartwell thank
you so much for listening now.
And welcome in. This is the CEO's You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Hartwell, let's say hello to Doug Jackson.
Oh alca San. Good to see you, Thank you for
coming in.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
So tell us everything we need to know about al Caacan.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Yeah. So, since nineteen fifty nine, most don't realize it, Elkassan,
the Allegany County Sanitary Authority has been providing wastewater treatment
services to over eight hundred thousand folks within the region
twenty four seven, three sixty five.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
And you have something big coming up, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So there we're heading into our annual open house that's
this September fourteenth, from nine am to four pm. But
leading up to that, we have our summer Sweepsteaks campaign
leading up to the six weeks prior to that fantastic day.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So that's going on right now. So the open house,
where's that located for people who don't know the al
Caasan location?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yep. So our main treatment plant and our only location
is at thirty three hundred Prebble Avenue down in the
city of Pittsburgh, generally on the city side, right underneath
the McKees rocks Bridge.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Now, the thing is, I've been to your open house.
Now I think who would come to this, and to
be honest with you, what you think is happening and
what really happens is like the difference between shooting a
bullet and throwing a bullet. You do have quite you
throw quite a festival, don't you.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It's pretty amazing when you think in the fall of
the year, with all the activities going on with school
activities for kids that are back to school and colleges
with football games, that you'll get several thousand people that
will take time out of their day to come to
an open house to see a wastewater treatment facility. Pretty amazing.
(01:43):
I was a naysayer, i think, early on, to think
that folks would be all that interested. But when I
think of the history of the organization and the service
that it provides of cleaning over seventy plus billion gallons
a year of polluted wastewater and sending it back in
to the river, it really is an amazing facility. And
our open house has become more of a showcase for
(02:06):
us to be able to show to the general public
side of a utility that they probably know the least about.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
And you've really made it a family friendly event, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
So we focus part of our core mission is to
educate folks and some of that is the rate payers
and the parents, but a lot of that is the
children and the youth within the region as well from
a stem from a scholastic outreach perspective. So when you
think about wastewater treatment, you don't think that there would
be a family spin on it. But between our mascot
(02:40):
Frankie the Fish, and between our interactive plumbers display where
youth can put on a raincoat and see different valves
and pumps and water going in various locations. Plus the
parents get the opportunity to learn about various programs that
we have that can help them pay for bills that
they may be struggling with as well. It really is
(03:00):
an open house for our four hundred plus employees that
we have at the treatment plant and really showcase, showcase
all the great things that we do for the region.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
And this event is free.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
It is It is free to the public, rain or shine.
It is a nine am to four pm. There have
been some years it has rained, but not very many years.
We've gone through COVID this is our going beyond our
twentieth year of doing it. But yeah, it is completely free.
We will provide you with a meal as well while
(03:33):
you were there. I'm not sure that that's what brings
people back year to year, but there are various hands
on activities for youth. There is I'm partial as the
director of operations and maintenance of the facility as well.
We will have almost half a billion dollars worth of
construction going on at a treatment plant that's an operation,
and we will bust you through the facility and you
(03:54):
will see things that will amaze you. You will see
this year big construction vehicles that are down there warders
and cranes, and you will take a tour of one
of our newest facilities, our environmental compliance facility, where all
of our just fascinating laboratory work is being done to
really keep us in compliance with all the federal, state
(04:14):
and local requirements were required to maintain.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I'm really glad you brought up the you know, the
improvements that are going on with al Caasan because more
than twenty years ago, the radio and television organizations used
to have something called ascertainments, and this would allow organizations
you know, some are nonprofits, some utilities, politicians whomever. They
(04:39):
gave them an opportunity to address the radio and television
community and you as the organization. ALCACAN used to send
it representative every year, and I remember twenty years ago
they said, listen, there is going to be an infrastructure
that needs to be presented here and it's going to
cost I can't remember the number of it was like
(05:00):
something like fifty million. And then the year later we
see the same representative. It was like, it's going to
be one hundred million. And then a year after that
it was like, listen, there is this needs to be
addressed now, otherwise it's going to be a multi billion
dollar infrastructure that needs to be addressed. And that was
(05:21):
twenty years ago, and it's you guys are still in
the process of being able to I don't think it
made me realize of oh wow, this is ALCASAN does
a whole lot more than what I think they do.
Is that something that you guys face people really don't
understand exactly what you do. And the terrain of Pittsburgh
(05:45):
presents a major issue for ALKUSAN. Can you can you
address some of those?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah? Absolutely so I'm going to try to tackle that
in two different ways. So one from a historical perspective,
we've only been in operation, I say, only since nineteen
fifty nine. So if you think of the early part
of nineteen fifty nine, you had a very robust city
with industry and residences, and there was probably one percent
of the region that had any public sewerage. Most of
(06:10):
the sewage within the region, rainwater, commercial, industrial, residential waste
all went directly into the rivers. That took years to
plan for a facility that ultimately made its way down
along the rivers. Things flow downhill as the topography makes it,
and it makes its way into the treatment plan. So
when we look at the history of the region of
(06:32):
water quality and looking at how wastes are treated, there's
the nineteen fifty nine the treatment plan first goes into operation,
and then the federal government and the seventies comes out
with a Clean Water Act where we had to make
significant improvements to address improving water quality within the region.
And in the nineties there's another policy that comes out
that basically identifies overflows. It occurred during rain events where
(06:58):
sewage directly goes into the river untreated. That happens to
be part of a federal consent decree that we're under
right now with the EPA, the State dep local Health Department,
and it's to address not days like today where it's
not raining, where days where it's raining and the treatment
plant and the region sewer system just doesn't have enough
(07:20):
capacity and there are billions of gallons of wastewater during
those times where they will go into the local waterway.
So our clean water plan is to address those overflows
when they occur, and that is part of our as
you said many years ago. So now it is at
least a two billion dollar program that we have, which
is only the first phase of it, but it really
(07:42):
is to address those overflows that occur because of rain
events of where storm water gets contaminated with sewage, and
the federal government has gone to other parts of the
region and address it. It's not just a Pittsburgh thing.
It's also a Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington, d C. So it's
not just a localized regional issue. But for the City
(08:03):
of Pittsburgh it is without a doubt. It will be
its largest infrastructure project within the region. It will include
plan expansion to take our capacity from two hundred and
fifty million gallons per day to six hundred million gallons
per day.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
We will be see is that going to be enough
even for the city?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
It will not so. From the perspective of our approach
for dealing with the problem, we have four pillars to
our approach. One of them is taking the treatment plant
right now and building it to as large of a capacity,
squeezing it into the fifty nine acres that you have
down there with the river and you have the rail
on one side and you have industry on the other side.
We will also be taking over ownership of more sewage
(08:44):
piping that's in the region. That will help us from
a planning perspective. We will help incentivize some of the
region to find ways to keep storm water out of
the sewer system. And then ultimately the largest financial component
I think of our program is a large underground tunnel
system that we will start construction of that at the
(09:06):
end of next year. It will be eighteen foot diameter
tunnel just in concept, about one hundred and fifty feet
below the ground that will go four miles underneath and
along the rivers that on a daylight today it's empty,
but when it starts to rain. Those tunnels will fill
up with stormwater contaminated sewage, and instead of going into
(09:26):
the local streams and rivers and waterways affecting that water quality,
it will be released to the treatment planned in order
to try to reduce the billions of gallons annually that
overflow into the region. And that is essentially the first
phase of our overall weather plan.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, like I mentioned, this is something that you foresaw
two decades ago. And do you think the engineering is
kept up with where you need to go and what
you said? This is phase one? What are the additional phases?
What's going to happen down the line? And I'm sure
that you get this all the time. How do we
(10:07):
pay for a two billion dollar infrastructure program like this?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Right? Yeah? So the first phase we will determine what
needs to be done in the future. After we've finished
the first phase, and we'll do water quality analysis, we'll
take measurements in the rivers and the waterways and see
if we're attaining the goals of the clarity and the
If you think of the rivers, they're massive body of water,
bodies of water, they're very forgiving. We contribute a small
(10:33):
percentage to what flows through the city of Pittsburgh. Obviously
the miles are very lengthy. But our program is to
attain water quality goals within the region being addressed by
sewage overflow. So at the end of the twenty thirty
six time period, when all of our construction of all
these tunnels and plane expansions are done, we will then
(10:54):
do an assessment period of water quality and that will
tell us what, if any improvements are needed at that time.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So when you talk about improvements, what is the advantage
of having those improvements?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Right, So when you look at the waterways that we
have today and you think of nineteen fifty eight and
nineteen fifty eight, before there wasn't Elkastan, the rivers were
considered more, I would say, of the landfills back in
the day, it was a place to dump trash, garbage, sewage.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Well, just last week you had you know, they're pulling
old cars out of the river and I couldn't imagine
that there was that many vehicles in the river very
close to the point I was done.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, pretty amazing when I saw those as well. But
you think of what those rivers and how robust they
are to have, you know, sustained, you know, the water
quality that they have in spite of some of the
many many years of industrial pollution discharge and going back
(11:55):
in time, it was acid mind drainage. And you look
at the improvements of water quality within the region. Ultimately,
you know, selfishly, I think I like to take some
credit for the organization being part of the overall improvements
in the river. You look at all of the river development,
of residential activity that's happening along the rivers, You got
(12:17):
the trails. You never would have thought you would have
had a bass master's tournament in the city of Pittsburgh
and all those different things that go into it. And
you wouldn't have any of those things be done if
you didn't have a quality that didn't cause and contribute
to health issues with those that came in direct contact
with it. So I think that is the immediate improvement
(12:39):
that folks will see by having less sewage overflows at
a car. But if you remember, we're we're at the
we're at the mouth of the Ohio River. The Ohio
River is a massive body of water that flows for
miles and ultimately into the Gulf. And when the federal
government looks at water quality of things that are happening
at the golf. They look at all lengths of the
(13:01):
river and look at who the contributors are to various
forms of pollution, whether or not it's sewage discharges, or
whether or not it's rainwater discharges, or whether or not
it's a discharge from some unique industry. It all ties
into the water quality not only of the localized region,
but both upstream and down.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Well, that's what I was going to ask you. Upstream
when you go for the headwaters of the Alleghany or
the Monongahela, are there communities that are also helping or
are there communities that aren't nearly as advanced? And does
that present a problem for you down here close to
the the you know, the confluence.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So the issues are probably a little bit more less
impactful to us than they are from the regulatory perspective.
So the folks that regulate the water bodies have to
go to the various sources of dischargers. Fortunately for us,
we're mostly within Alleghany County and we don't have discharges
or facilities outside of the county. So really you look
(13:58):
at what the water quality is coming into the region,
and you look at the water quality leaving the region.
And that's how you get some sense of what impact
you're having on improving or degrading the water quality within
the region. You look at what's coming in and what's
going out. But with the miles of upstream rivers and
water waste, each of those other dischargers to those communities
(14:22):
would have some regulatory obligation to meet the requirements of
whatever those discharges of water were to the water wasys.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Okay, So those discharges have they have their own they
will little infrastructure things that they have to take care of.
And I'm sorry that, I mean, I'm sounding naive when
it comes to this, but I'm just curious on because
the water isn't just stagnant. It's just not a lake,
it's not a river. It's I mean, it's a river.
It's going to flow in and it's going to flow out.
So as where does Alka San's obligation end when it
(14:56):
comes to the Ohio River, Because then you're moving into
another state, in different states then ultimately to the Mississippi.
So where do you, guys, where does your responsibility end?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So our biggest discharge is at the treatment plane itself,
which is pretty close to the furthest point down river
on the Ohio for us, So that would be the
most notable discharge to the waterway that we have a
point source that you know, on days like it rained previously,
we're discharging two hundred and fifty million gallons per day,
(15:30):
which sounds like a large number, but as I mentioned,
that's a small percentage of the volume of the Ohio
River that's there as well. Ultimately, like they did on
the other side of the state with the Chesapeake pay,
if the regulators felt that there were measurable impacts to
we'll say the Gulf of Mexico, they could go the
whole way up the Mississippi and the Ohio and put
(15:52):
regulations not only on wastewater treatment plants, but sometimes you
will have storm water runoff, you will have agricultural runoff
from lands and farms that all have pollutants in them
that contribute to all of the downstream issues that are there.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Pittsburgh has a very odd topography does that present certain
problems for accusans.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
So it helps and hurts. So from the perspective of
it being hilly, the challenge is if you're trying to
stop water from flowing and trying to keep it at
the surface. It's very challenging. The good part of it
is it all wants to flow downhill, and by it
all flowing downhill, all of the flow that generally comes
(16:36):
to the treatment plant mostly comes by gravity, which may
not sound like much, but the electricity costs of wastewater
treatment process sometimes to get the wastewater to the treatment
plant is a measurable component of annual budget. So you
go to a Cleveland or you know, Cleveland's probably a
good one, but you go to the Midwest where it's
(16:56):
all flat, there are multiple times the polluted waste water
has to be pumped using large equipment to get to
the treatment plant because it's so flat. For us, as
I mentioned before, we're downhill or at the end of
the pipe, so it mostly flows to us, and when
it gets to us, it's one hundred feet below the
ground when it gets to the treatment plan, and then
(17:18):
we have to pump that out of infrastructure that was
created about up one hundred feet, which part of our
open house has taken folks to see that pump station
and look down one hundred feet over a handrail and
you see who's scared heights pretty quick. But that's one
of those things that as we go forward, we will
be similarly building infrastructure that will now take a pipe
(17:41):
that's fifty feet deeper than our existing infrastructure. It will
be larger in diameter, and it will be discharging to
the treatment plant as well, which begs to some of
the costs of the program.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
All right, you mentioned some of the infrastructure changes that
are happening over the next twelve years. What has ALCA
sand Don over the last past twelve years to improve
the water quality here in.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Pittsburgh, Right, So the biggest thing and most notable is
we are on the cusp of changing the capacity of
the treatment plan. So one of our four pillars was
to take the capacity of the treatment plant from its
current value of two hundred and fifty million gallons per
day and taking it to up to six hundred million
gallons per day. So early on it was determined that
(18:26):
by expanding the capacity at the treatment plant, that is
the quickest bang for your buck. So being able to
buy soon the end of twenty twenty four, will be
putting some processes online. By the end of twenty twenty five,
we'll be putting additional we will be up to four
hundred and eighty million gallons per day, and that will
(18:46):
measurably during rain events be able to reduce those overflows significantly. Ultimately,
it won't be till the tunnel is captured and the
tunnel is constructed that we'll be able to get the
full capacity city up to six hundred million gallons per
day and the heavier, heavier rain storms. But a lot
of these nickel dime if you will, rain storms that
(19:10):
occur right now, A lot of the capacity that we'll
be adding in into the next year or two will
really minimize the amount of times and periods that we're
in overflow.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
So in nineteen fifty eight, fifty nine, when Alkasan is
being presented to me, that was the height of Pittsburgh's population,
that was the boom. The fact that population in Pittsburgh
is being diminished, is that somewhat helpful you're getting? Is that? No?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, So it goes both ways. So you know, I
have infrastructure that's in the ground that's well over fifty years,
well over one hundred years in some cases in the city,
and it's one of those it's infrastructure that most people
don't pay that much attention to. I often say, if
somebody's waterline in front of their house is broke, can
usually know because it's water spewing everywhere. And similar for
(20:03):
the other utilities, with the exception of some of the
sewage infrastructure that's out there, if it has a crack
and a pipe, unless it's backing up into somebody's basement,
I'm not sure anybody really knows or cares. But in
a lot of cases that old piping has cracks in
it that lets groundwater from the soil get into the
(20:24):
system and that all comes to Elkasan. So that's all
additional flows that we've seen increase over the years, even
though the population itself hasn't necessarily increased. So while population
growth perhaps back from the fifties hasn't got to the
point where it was projected to be, we're still treating
flows within the region that are comparable to what was projected,
(20:47):
even without the growth in population.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And an older infrastructure which presents even more problems. Absolutely
all right, So your goal is you mentioned twenty thirty six.
Do you think that there's going to have to be
significant improvements after thirty twenty thirty six?
Speaker 2 (21:06):
So it's anticipated that there will be so when we
originally put a plan together to the federal government back
in twenty twelve, our total plan for full compliance was
three point six billion dollars to be in compliance. And
again we talked about the financial side. While the federal
government tells you what you need to do, they're also
not kicking in an awful lot of cash to help
(21:30):
fund this, So the burden really goes on the rate
payers that we have within our region that have a
water service that's connected to us. That's where the burden
ultimately ends up coming out to be. So for us,
we felt the region can afford two billion dollars of
improvements without overburdening a percentage of what folks are paying
(21:53):
for for sewer sewer service. What is good is that
in that time period after construction, we will have an
extensive testing and sampling program to truly see what the
region really needs. So it allows us to spend money
that we know that will be measurable and it will
be impactful. How impactful that will be to waterway. Some
(22:15):
of those challenges are based upon what weather conditions are
at those time periods as well. I think we all
acknowledge that weather seems to be a little bit more
intense at times, and sometimes that impacts programs and plans.
And by twenty thirty six we will see in another
decade from now kind of where things are within the
region and have to assess what's necessary to meet the
(22:39):
water quality that's expected.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
When you talk about the burden and the Pittsburgh taxpayers,
I'm sure you receive some pushback, but have they understood
the extensive infrastructure that is needed.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yep. So that is probably our biggest challenge. I have
been with the authority for going on thirty four years,
and over those years and even prior to that, very
few folks. We're the one utility I think the folks
know the least about because they're not typically writing checks
to el Casan anymore like they once did. So when
(23:20):
we looked at forecasting what rate increases we're going to
be within the region back in twoenty twelve, Fortunately, both
the condition of the financial markets as well as our spending,
we've gone below where the projected rate increases we're going
to be. But the challenge still is for somebody that's
(23:43):
not writing a check to el Caasan and part of
a sewer or water bill that they're paying to some
other utility that has an elkasin component in it. I
think that is what spearheaded our executive director of Arletta Williams,
to take us from the utility that was out of sight,
(24:04):
out of mind, and put it in the forefront of
folks minds, both in the media side scholastic outreach. Our
open house is really our way to get to as
many customers as we can, to create those relationships so
folks understand who we are and what we do, but
also understand the service that we truly provide to the region.
(24:27):
You're treating seventy billion plus gallons of polluted water that
nobody wants to see, touch, or do anything with, and
we're taking one hundred and ten thousand tons per year
of some solid waste pollution out of that waste water,
and we're doing it out of sight, out of mind,
but ultimately for the rate increases, Folks want to see
(24:50):
what their money is being spent on, and come into
our open house this year, you'll see several hundred thousand
dollars worth of construction ongoing, and you'll hear about our
massive plans for tunnel infrastructure in the years to come.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Let's finish with the open house. Tell us everything we
need to know about the event.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I'll be honest with you, It truly is an amazing
I will call it it an environmental showcase of not
only water recycling and waste reuse at our facility, but
it really is a testament to showcase the great things
for the three hundred and ten square miles of Ellegany
(25:28):
County that the Eleganty County Sanitary Authority provides wastewater treatment,
for the four hundred plus folks that we have working
that have different skills and backgrounds and educations. It is
fun for the kids. It's something to come and do
in the morning and go watch your kids soccer or
baseball in the afternoon, even if you're able to come
(25:50):
down for an hour or two, so we do extra
credit for some school kids. We're always trying to get
different activities in there to make it be engaging for
the folk folks. Obviously, the free food is usually sometimes
a grabber for folks to come. We have you know,
gus and yah yah they had been their previous they'll
be back, at least part of them will be back
(26:12):
this year with some popcorn and some cotton candy for
so it really is a showcase not of not only
of environmental but you know, the region that we support
and are so very proud of what we do.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
It's a free family event. What is the day and
what are the times?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yep. So it's coming up this September fourteenth from nine
am to four pm. Leading up to that, please go
to Elkasan's website www dot Elkasan dot org and take
advantage not only of the pre registration see if there
are any open house tours left as well, but also
(26:48):
take advantage of some of our summer sweepstakes. Leading up
to that. Each week we will have weekly giveaways to
try to encourage folks to learn a little bit more
about Elkasan, who we are and what we do, and
also encourage you to tend our fantastic open house.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Get more information at Alkasan dot org. Doug Jackson from Alkasan,
It's a pleasure, Thank you so much, enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
This has been the CEOs you Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Heartwell thank
you so much for listening now.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
24/7 News: The Latest
Today’s Latest News In 4 Minutes. Updated Hourly.