LYNN — Construction is expected to begin on a $200 million sewer separation project this summer, which is aimed at alleviating flooding in West Lynn and the downtown.
Fifteen miles of new piping will be constructed between those two areas, which are prone to heavy flooding during major rain events.
The Lynn Water & Sewer Commission (LWSC) is soliciting bids from contractors for Phase 1 of the 13-year combined sewers outflow (CSO) project, which will consist of about two years of construction at an estimated cost of $15.5 million.
The first phase of the sewer replacement work will begin in June or July and cover a portion of West Lynn, according to Daniel O’Neill, LWSC executive director.
In addition to flood relief, the planned CSO project will separate sewer and rainwater systems, protecting the oceans and other bodies of water from improper discharge.
However, O’Neill said West Lynn won’t see much relief from the first phase of construction until a $20 million pump station is built at McManus Field. The facility, which will manage up to 114 million gallons of stormwater a day, is the second phase of the project.
“(That) will take place after this construction,” said O’Neill. “The water has nowhere to go until the pump station is built. The additional piping system will provide additional storage in the system, but it will be discharging into the same sewer system that it has been for 100 years because there’s nowhere for the water to go right now.”
O’Neill said the Phase 1 construction will begin at Centre and Federal streets, continue through Market Square and down South Street, with a portion of Summer Street included. New piping will be built from Neptune Street, Neptune Street Court, and South Street Place, to Lowell Street, which discharges into the Bennett Street line, he said.
Three sets of new piping, ranging from 12 inches to 42 inches, eight to 18 inches, and eight to 16 inches, will be constructed, O’Neill said.
The CSO project was a federal requirement for the LWSC, which is being financed by the State Revolving Fund Loan Program offered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
The city is incurring about 20-30 years of debt for the project, which would be through a 2 percent interest loan. As the city provides the payments, it would get the funds from the state program, which would be used to pay the contractor, O’Neill said.
The Phase 1 contract would increase the city’s debt service by more than $500,000 each year over a 30-year period, which is comparable to taking on an additional mortgage, O’Neill said.
“We signed a consent decree and we’re doing the projects in the consent decree,” said O’Neill.
The project is intended to bring the city in compliance with the Massachusetts Clean Water Act and parts of a 2001 consent decree filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which called for cleaning up West Lynn and the downtown.
The LWSC was first sued by the EPA in 1976 for discharging sewage mixed with stormwater into the ocean or other bodies of water. In 2017, the agency filed a consent decree, which ordered the city to pay a $125,000 civil penalty for violating the Clean Water Act and failing to comply with a previous decree.
There are four main overflow areas in the city: Summer Street at the GE field, which flows into the Saugus River; King’s Beach in East Lynn at the Lynn/Swampscott line; Market Street; and Broad Street, which both discharge into Lynn Harbor.
Lynn has already spent $90 million to comply with other parts of the 2001 decree, which included the construction of 100,000 feet of new piping to clean up King’s Beach and stop sewage from flowing into the ocean.
