Dozens of people from a disaster response company are working to clean up the mess in a flooded section of the Binghamton-Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant.

Liquid waste poured into the western portion of the facility in the town of Vestal when an equipment failure occurred around 5:15 a.m. February 18.

Sewage Board chairman George Kolba said ServPro of Binghamton has been hired to continue removing the material that spilled during the incident.

Kolba said the company has been using as many as 28 workers as part of the recovery project since setting up at the plant on Vestal Road on Monday.

Several ServPro vehicles were at the Binghamton-Johnson City Sewage Treatment Plant on March 15, 2022. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)
Several ServPro vehicles were at the Binghamton-Johnson City Sewage Treatment Plant on March 15, 2022. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)
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Kolba said ServPro had estimated the work it was planning to do at the facility would take between seven and ten days to complete. Plant workers started the cleanup shortly after last month's incident.

Since the equipment failure, waste entering the plant is being partially treated before it is discharged into the Susquehanna River.

The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation has requested daily updates on the operation of the facility and the cleanup operation.

The cause of last month's malfunction is under investigation. There is no estimate as to when normal sewage treatment at the plant might resume.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com.

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