SARANAC LAKE — You could say village Manager John Sweeney was happy when the village was awarded $2.5 million for a wastewater treatment plant disinfection system last week.

“I would use the word ecstatic,” Sweeney said. “We were really pushing to get this one. We knew we needed it.”

Village officials learned they would get the $2.5 million grant at the Dec. 8 state Regional Economic Development Council awards in Albany when the North Country came home with $61.4 million for 77 projects. The village’s grant, in dollar amount, was tied for the biggest individual award to any one project in the region. The village of Carthage in Jefferson County also received $2.5 million for a disinfection system for its wastewater treatment plant.

The award for Saranac Lake was timely. On Nov. 30, the state Department of Environmental Conservation notified the village that it has proposed to modify the permit that allows it to discharge treated effluent from its plant into the Saranac River. The modification would require seasonal disinfection of the effluent.

“Effluent disinfection is required because it is necessary to protect the environment and public health,” reads the letter from DEC Environmental Program Specialist Teresa Diehsner.

DEC is giving the village until May 1, 2020 to have an operational disinfection system. It can contest the proposed modification of its permit in writing and/or request a hearing, but it doesn’t appear village officials will do so.

Sweeney said the shift to disinfection is part of an effort to protect the water quality of the Lake Champlain basin, which includes the Saranac River. The new system would be a final step in the sewage treatment process.

“Obviously the sludge and the sewage goes into the treatment system, and it’s treated three different times,” he said. “The final clarifier is what settles out any remaining solids, but the water still has chemicals in it. It may have phosphorous from the washing machine at your house or my house. Those are the last types of things that this is designed to address. It will disinfect any potential contaminants, which by today’s standards are OK, but by tomorrow’s standards we need to treat.”

Sweeney said the village has two options for final disinfection: chemical treatment or ultra-violet treatment. The state also awarded it $30,000 to study which option is the best, although Sweeney said UV is the option most municipalities around the state go with.

The fact that the village got state support for this big upgrade is significant, Sweeney said.

“We have an older plant, but that thing still wins awards, and that’s what’s amazing to me,” he said. “Years ago I had a conversation with somebody, ‘Why is it only the people that allow their plants to fail get grants instead of the other way around?’ It seems like I’m seeing that happen now. You’re trying to stay ahead of the curve, you’re doing the maintenance, and here’s some money for those things. I’m very happy about it.”

The project came up at Monday’s village board meeting when Trustee Paul Van Cott asked if village staff was comfortable with DEC’s compliance schedule and, if not, whether it should file an objection to the proposal.

“If we don’t raise any concerns now, then it becomes part of our permit and we’re obligated to comply with it and the schedule,” Van Cott said. “I wanted to make sure the schedule they’ve proposed, we think we can meet.”

“Our experience is, if we don’t joint up with them, the directive will be next,” Sweeney said. “That’s what that letter says, in essence. We are comfortable with what we have as far as design, implementation and meeting their final (schedule).”

Van Cott also questioned whether the $2.5 million will cover the village’s costs, or if the engineering study might identify additional expenses.

Based on initial discussions with the village’s engineers, Sweeny said the $2.5 million should be enough, but he said he’d find out if there could be additional costs before responding to DEC.