NYS Launches Audit of Binghamton-JC Sewage Treatment Project

State auditors have started a review of an estimated $300 million reconstruction job at the Binghamton-Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant in Vestal.

The office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli advised city officials last week that it had initiated an audit.

The review is to focus on the massive capital project at the facility on Vestal Road. The cost of the project will increase user rates for residents of Binghamton, Johnson City and several other local communities in the years ahead.

A spokeswoman in the comptroller's New York City office said the audit began last Thursday with a meeting with officials related to the plant. She said the final report may take up to a year to complete and it will become public once it is finalized.

Members of Binghamton City Council and the Johnson City Village Board are expected to be contacted by auditors to discuss fiscal oversight that's been provided during the construction project.

In recent weeks, state environmental regulators sought public comment on an application for a sewage treatment plant discharge permit.

Mayor Richard David recently said he expected the long-running project to rebuild the plant will be finished this year. He said the current schedule calls for the project to "finally be complete" around May or June.

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

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