Process control manager Alex Roseweir speaks with visitors in the underground slow filter chamber during the West Parish Water Treatment Facility open house on Oct. 16 in Westfield.
Reminder Publishing photo by Marc St. Onge
WESTFIELD — For years, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission has been developing a vision for improving operations at its West Parish Water Treatment Plant, but as U.S. Sen. Ed Markey noted, “A vision without funding is a hallucination.”
Markey (D-Malden) was one of several public officials — including Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield), state Reps. Carlos Gonzalez (D-Springfield) and Orlando Ramos (D-Springfield) and Springfield Water and Sewer Commission Chair Vanessa Otero — who celebrated the ceremonial groundbreaking of a nearly $300 million project designed to significantly upgrade and modernize the facility.
Karen McGuire, the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s New England regional administrator, and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Agency Commissioner Bonnie Heiple also helped celebrate, as did students in the Springfield Renaissance School’s Environmental Pathway, part of its Innovation Career Pathways program.
The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is responsible for providing clean water to more than 250,000 people in Western Massachusetts, including more than 36,000 Springfield households. The new facility, expected to be completed in fall 2028, will be able to treat 65 million gallons of water per day in service to Springfield as well as the commission’s retail customers in Ludlow and wholesale customers in Agawam, Longmeadow and East Longmeadow. Westfield, Southwick, West Springfield, Chicopee and Wilbraham are all also peak and/or emergency users of the system.
The project is backed primarily by $250 million in low-interest loans from the Environmental Protection Agency and MassDEP’s Massachusetts Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, as well as a $4.6 million federal earmark secured by Markey, Neal and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The loan through the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, Markey noted, was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
“Together, we’re going to embark on what is arguably one of the largest public infrastructure projects the Greater Springfield region has seen this century,” he said.
Officials spoke to the importance of maintaining a clean water supply in the interest of public health.
Neal referred to it as the bedrock for extended life expectancy. He lauded the EPA’s continued support of clean water initiatives and stressed the role entities like the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission in preserving quality of life.
“When you look at Flint, Michigan, and you compare and contrast what happened there when they decided to go to private water supply systems,” he said, referring to the 2014 public health emergency related to lead contamination in the water supply and Legionnaires Disease, “we have not had that experience because this is based upon a commitment that we made to the citizenry and the taxpayers to accomplish these moments.”
Sarno also argued that clean water was not only a public health necessity but also contributes to economic development. He referred to the direct employment impact of the new facility in the form of 300 construction jobs, including apprenticeship programs, but also stressed that many businesses need reliable clean water to provide services to the surrounding communities. Markey noted the involvement of union laborers on the project, which will be overseen by the Walsh Group. Hazen and Sawyer, which completed the design and engineering phase of the project, also designed the original 1909 facility.
Multiple speakers, including Neal and Markey, noted the original water treatment plant on the site was considered state of the art when it was built in 1909 and the new plant would continue that tradition. Neal noted the current system was still among the best, marveling at its effectiveness given it was last modernized in 1979 with the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and is still using slow sand filters from the 1920s.
“Arguably, this is the best water system in America,” Neal said. “People of the valley, the eight or nine communities that used this system over the years, will testify to what I just had to say.”
Further, Markey noted the new facility would be far more efficient than the existing system, dampening environmental impacts.
“Not only will this facility ensure safe drinking water, but it takes advantage of some of the best technology we have to reduce energy use and pollution, including a fossil fuel-free HVAC system that will reduce energy costs by 50% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70%” he said.
“Once this project is complete,” he added, “we’re going to have to rework the letters of the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission’s trucks — SWSC will come to stand for Springfield Water Stays Clean.”
