CLAYTON, N.Y. — The state says crews have started work on a $2.4 million project to repair the wastewater-collection system and treatment plant in Clayton in Jefferson County following flooding in 2019.

The Village of Clayton is using funding that was provided through the state’s Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative, or REDI, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.

In addition to Clayton’s wastewater-collection system and treatment plant, the 2019 flooding of the St. Lawrence River “negatively impacted” the Riverside Drive and East Union Street pump stations, leaving portions of the infrastructure below water, limiting pumping capabilities, and causing interruption of the disinfection process.

Mitigation measures for this project include converting the existing chlorine contact to an intermediate effluent lift station and expanding the filtration/disinfection building with larger filters and UV disinfection systems to treat the entire plant flow.

Crews will expand the Riverside Drive pump station wet well and they’ll install dry pit submersible pumps with increased capacity in the dry well, per Hochul’s office.

“High water has repeatedly damaged critical wastewater infrastructure along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River,” Basil Seggos, commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said. “Today’s announcement marks the start of construction on a project that will both repair damage that devastated the Village of Clayton’s wastewater collection system in 2019 and improve its resiliency to withstand future flood events.”

About REDI

In response to the “extended pattern of flooding” along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, REDI was created to increase the resilience of shoreline communities and bolster economic development in the region, per Hochul’s office.

The state established five REDI regional planning committees to identify local priorities, at-risk infrastructure and other assets, and public-safety concerns. The REDI committees include representatives from eight counties: Cayuga, Oswego, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, and Wayne.

Since the creation of the REDI program in spring 2019, 133 REDI funded local and regional projects are underway, including 89 projects in the design phase, 18 projects in the construction phase, and 26 projects completed, per Hochul’s office.