Work began today in Amsterdam to make immediate repairs needed to the city’s infrastructure that includes a failing sanitary sewer line on Pershing Road. This followed Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara’s announcement of $920,000 in state funding for the city through the NEW Water Infrastructure Emergency Assistance Program established in this year’s state budget. Assemblyman Santabarbara played a key role in crafting the state’s new initiative following the emergency repairs needed to the sewer system in the city last year.

In a letter to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos, Assemblyman Santabarbara noted that the section of the city’s sanitary sewer system on Pershing Road has repeatedly failed over the years, leaving homes without service for extended periods of time, causing sewage to flood into people’s homes, property damage and the need for costly cleanups. Amsterdam Mayor Michael Villa also issued an emergency declaration identifying the sanitary sewer system on Pershing Road as a “threat to the public health, safety and welfare of its residents,” which was included in the city’s application for emergency funding.

“Seeing this work begin shortly after the city applied for emergency funding through this new initiative is great news for the residents of Amsterdam and New York State,” said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara. “This is a very different situation than the one we were forced to deal with last summer in the City of Amsterdam when repairs were being made to a failing sewer line on Forrest Avenue,” Santabarbara added. “We are seeing for the first time how the Water Infrastructure Emergency Assistance Program I established in this year’s state budget can help upstate communities like Amsterdam make emergency repairs when they are needed.”