Sewage treatment efforts in Harrison Township are getting a boost through two grants from Allegheny County. The township was notified that it will receive a grant of $169,000 from the Gaming Economic Development Fund. The Upper Allegheny Joint Sanitary Authority received a $100,000 grant from the same fund. The sanitary authority grant is to be used to update the authority's sewage facilities plan for Harrison if and when Freeport decides to join the authority and connect to its system. “Nothing is happening on that until Freeport makes their final decision,� said Ed Schmitt of Gibson-Thomas Engineering, the authority's engineer. According to Schmitt, the grant would pay for the 537 plan for Freeport to tie in to Upper Allegheny. The 537 plan is a state requirement for system planning. It's a summary of a proposed project that contains information such as whether the plan meets state requirements and gives detailed information including the plan's engineering report, pipe sizes and what permits are needed. “When we bring Freeport into our system, most of the lines would be in Harrison,� said Tim Kuhns, the authority's executive director. That is the reason the grant is for Harrison, he said. Federal officials have given Freeport until Sept. 1, 2019, to upgrade the borough's system. The borough's options have come down to connecting with Upper Allegheny or building a new treatment plant to replace a 50-year-old facility, according to Freeport Council President Rich Hastings. The deadline is in conjunction with a push by federal authorities to alleviate sewage facilities being overwhelmed during heavy rain because of combined storm-sanitary systems or serious problems with stormwater infiltration. That is the basis for the other grant to Harrison, according to Faith Payne, Harrison's executive secretary. “It is part of the consent order that we have, and it would be to separate the sewers on Chestnut Street,� Payne said. Chestnut Street is in Natrona, one of the township's oldest neighborhoods where a number of sewer lines are outdated, including the one on Chestnut, according to Ray Antonelli, the township's engineer. “I'm trying to reroute some flows to reduce wet weather discharges,� Antonelli said. “We were looking at laying line in an alley parallel to Chestnut Street, but now we are thinking about actually laying line down on Chestnut Street. “The scope may be changing,� he said. “I need to talk to Upper Allegheny about our point of connection.� The engineer said he also is looking at ways to do the work but reduce the cost of the project, which initially was estimated at between $500,000 and $600,000. “It may still require some local contribution,� Antonelli said. Tom Yerace and Jodi Weigand are Tribune-Review staff writers. Reach Yerace at 724-226-4675 or tyerace@tribweb.com. Reach Weigand at 724-226-4702 or jweigand@tribweb.com. Email Newsletters TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.