Parish gets $800,000 grant for sewer rehab

Wastewater collection lines along 26 streets in old Luling and Boutte are set for refurbishment thanks to an $800,000 Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant recently awarded to the parish by the State of Louisiana.

The funds will be used to clean and video all gravity sewer lines in the target area, which lies on the western side of Paul Maillard Road. Information from the video will be used to formulate a rehabilitation plan for the lines, including plans for point repairs, cured-in-place pipe lining, manhole rehabilitation and other repairs as needed.

The project has been permitted and designed and is shovel-ready, St. Charles Parish Grants Officer Holly Fonseca said. Construction will begin pending parish council approval of the grant agreement and construction contract from the lowest bidder. Once the line assessment has been completed, repairs are expected to take approximately eight months.

"We are excited to be able to continue the wastewater improvements in this area of the parish, which has been in need of them for quite some time," St. Charles Parish Wastewater Department Director Sammy Accardo said.

The goal is to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows during heavy rain events, lessen sewer backups into homes and relieve rainwater infiltration into the sewer system and Hahnville Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project is also expected to extend the structural life of the sewer collection system and provide the sewer capacity needed for the area.

Streets include Easy Street, Seymore Street, Lauve Street, Gassen Lane, Luling Estates, Allie Street, Ristroph Street, Kinler Street, Brooklyn Street, Paul Frederick Street, Paul Maillard Road, Jones Street, Canal Street, Hackberry Street, Oak Court, Blueberry Hill, Turner Lane, Bailey Street, Boutte Estates Drive, Alexander Street, South Kinler Street, Turner Lane, Park Avenue, Ponderosa Road, Good Children Street and Pit Road.

The project comes on the heels of a wide-reaching capacity upgrade of six sewer lift stations and installation of an additional lift station in the area, at a cost of $1.5 million.