JOHNSTOWN - Officials said foundation and basement walls are now complete at the Gloversville-Johnstown Wastewater Treatment Facility's new Dissolved Air Flotation facility, a part of the plant's major upgrade project.

"The project is progressing rather nicely," plant Manager George Bevington told the Gloversville-Johnstown Joint Sewer Board last week.

The Dissolved Air Flotation facility - part of a $9.5 million plant upgrade project - is a system used to treat wastewater by removing suspended solids from the water. Bevington said the brick wall has been completed for the outside wall of the solids-handling building, and the electrical service is 75 percent done.

Due to delays, Bevington said, a planned new belt press won't be operational until sometime in December.

The project is being done, in part, to accommodate additional waste from the new Fage USA yogurt factory at the Johnstown Industrial Park, the sewer plant's biggest customer.

A new 200,000-gallon whey storage tank, two 350-kilowatt generators, a third belt press and a digester thickener will be installed at the facility. A new building for some of the operations will be placed on the south side of the plant near the maintenance garage. Generators are not expected to arrive until January.

There will be a combined heat and power program at the sewer plant. The process will allow renewable clean power to generate enough electricity on the site to meet all its power needs.

In other business last week, the board approved a sludge-disposal agreement with the St. Johnsville Wastewater Treatment Facility at a cost of 4.5 cents per gallon. Bevington said St. Johnsville officials want to continue to bring its sludge to the local plant through 2010-11.

An environmental firm - New Jersey-based HydroQual Inc. - also requested a contract extension through 2010 at $35,000 per year rent.

The board approved an arrangement through Malcolm-Pirnie of White Plains to do an engineering inspection at the plant for $49,000. Bevington said now that his plant has secured $4.9 million in federal stimulus funding to help pay for the upgrade project, "special inspections" must be done by a licensed engineer.

Bevington also reported the state Department of Environmental Conservation and a wastewater group put on a training workshop recently at the Holiday Inn. He said the group also came to the sewer plant for training and testing.

"It was kind of a nice treat to show off our plant a little bit," Bevington said.

Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com.