MASSENA – Due to a mechanical failure, the village of Massena’s wastewater plant is currently without emergency power.
DPW Superintendent Marty Miller recently told council members that repairing the switchgear that provides emergency power to the plant would be costly.
“We’ve had some major problems with that. In the state we’re in right now, we don’t have a backup system and this repair could be quite costly,” Miller said.
Miller said the DPW has already paid $9,000 to a consultant to fix the problem, adding to what will likely be a very expensive repair.
He also told board members that the power plant was not designed to provide emergency power in the event of a power outage, which further complicates the situation.
“I was under the impression that just purchasing this generator would be cheaper than repairing the second line,” said Mayor Greg Paquin.
Paquin said he spoke with plant manager Taylor Zappia about the cost of correcting the situation.
However, Miller reiterated that the power plant is unable to provide a temporary facility that would allow the installation of a generator unit.
“We’re working on it right now, trying to figure out the exact size generator we need,” Miller said.
In the meantime, Miller said he has informed the Department of Environmental Conservation about the problem. Miller did not say whether the DEC could offer assistance in the meantime.
Miller said he had contacted a company that might be able to help with the wiring so the plant would have the lines needed to hook up a generator if needed.
He said the DPW still does not have a concrete number on what size generator is needed.
Even putting a generator of this size here is a problem. It’s a big problem and right now we’re living day to day and trying to get by,” he said.
