Kelly seeks $5M for sewage facility
CRANBERRY TWP — U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, announced Thursday he submitted a request to help fund Cranberry’s largest infrastructure project using federal dollars.
Kelly submitted a request to fund the last part of Cranberry’s Brush Creek Water Pollution Control Facility’s capacity expansion as part of the 2023 Community Project Funding. If approved, $5 million will be allocated toward the expansion from the federal government’s budget.
Cranberry township manager Dan Santoro said that while the dollars are far from final he is appreciative of the request, which would fund roughly one-third of an expansion to the facility’s solid-side capacity. Santoro also said this would likely be the last capacity expansion for the Brush Creek plant.
This part of the upgrade to the Brush Creek facility would have to do with how the facility handles sludge, or the solids removed from wastewater. Santoro said the township did not include the sludge segment of the expansion in the recently completed facility upgrade due to the high price.
Cranberry has not received any grant funds for the sludge component, according to Santoro, and would have to look for ways to fund the upgrade even with the federal dollars.
Should the funding come through, Santoro said, the plant would serve Cranberry until the equipment and technology are obsolete, rather than serving residents until it reaches maximum capacity.
