Binghamton/Johnson City Sewer Plant Demo. Begins

The walls are tumbling down at the Binghamton/Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant, but unlike an incident four years ago when a wall of a digester collapsed, this time the destruction is on purpose.

Demolition has started for a close to $200 million rehabilitation project at the plant that was heavily damaged by flooding in 2006 and 2011.

The facility on Old Vestal Road will be getting new structures and equipment to improve waste treatment and reduce or eliminate releases into the Susquehanna River.

The owners of the plant: the City of Binghamton and Village of Johnson City have applied for federal and state funding in the form of loans and Federal Emergency Management Agency money.

The plant is also hoping to get some money from a lawsuit filed against the contractors that had worked on the digester wall before it collapsed.