"It's going to be very expensive...several billion," said Glenda Murphy, one of several consultants contracted by ALCOSAN to work on the project.

Approximately a dozen residents and community officials attended the meeting held at the Mt. Lebanon Community Center. The meeting was the second in a series of public meetings the authority is holding to discuss the sewage overflow issue and its impact.

The meetings are being held as part of the planning process to resolve the problems as part of a consent decree approved in federal court in January 2008. Under the binding consent decree ALCOSAN, under the mandate of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Allegheny County Health Department, agreed to a comprehensive plan to greatly reduce the annual discharge of untreated sewage into area waterways by 2026.

In addition, each of the 83 municipalities served by ALCOSAN entered into individual agreements with the state environmental protection agency in conjunction with the ALCOSAN mandate.

Geisser explained how sewer overflows caused by rain, sleet and melting snow infiltrate the sanitary sewer lines causing them to overflow into waterways creating health and environmental concerns. He also explained how the authority's collection system works. The authority serves 320,000 customers and 83 municipalities in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties, processing an average of 200 million gallons of waste water daily at its North Side plant.

ALCOSAN and the municipalities must have a regional wet weather plan finalized by January 2013. The authority has begun the process by dividing its service area into seven planning basins where engineering teams are working with the local municipalities to develop a plan for each basin.

Among options being considered are expanding the treatment plant and building storage facilities where access water can be held during wet water events.

"The clock is ticking for ALCOSAN," Geisser said.

Over the next two years, as ALCOSAN completes its planning the cost will be revised, ALCOSAN officials said, but ultimately the cost will be shared by ALCOSAN, the municipal taxpayers and the individual consumers.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, the ALCOSAN sewer rate will increase seven percent from $3.77 per 1,000 gallons of water used to $4.04 and the quarterly service charge will increase from $7.92 to $8.48. A homeowner using 18,000 gallons of water per quarter will see an increase of $1.81 per month, according to ALCOSAN officials.

Because complying with the guidelines of the consent decree is going to affect all the municipalities and ALCOSAN customers it is important for everyone to be involved in the process, Geisser said. There are even steps individual homeowners can take to reduce the amount of storm water that enters the system.

The authority plans to hold more rounds of public meetings as the process continues. More information can be found at www.alcosan.org

One of those attending the Mt. Lebanon meeting was newly elected Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Matthew Kluck, who attended to learn more about the issue before taking his seat on the board.

"I know its going to cost a lot of money," Kluck said.