By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Mayor Bill Aiello and Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca on Wednesday announced creation of a task force to address ongoing wastewater overflows into the Ohi:yo’ (Allegheny) River.
The two leaders who met earlier this month on the Allegany Territory to discuss the issue, spoke outside the South Fourth Street pump station, where much of the untreated sewage that has been diverted into the river during heavy rain events backs up.
Aiello welcomed the Seneca president and members of the Tribal Council and announced the creation of the joint task force made up of Seneca and City of Olean officials.
“Our collaboration affords us the opportunity to pool our resources and experience to address the challenges Olean faces in the wastewater management practice,” Aiello said at the press conference. “The Allegheny River is an asset for both the City of Olean and the Seneca Nation.”
The mayor added: “Safeguarding the environmental integrity of the river and the public health is important for both communities. I look forward to working with President Seneca and the task force members in the upcoming months on this project.”
The Seneca reached out to Aiello to invite him and other city officials for a meeting after nearly a year of public concerns over the untreated sewage. Increasingly, many of the public comments at Olean Common Council meetings have been Seneca elected officials and members of the Seneca Nation.
“Certainly this has been a point of contention over the many years in regards to the dumping of sewage into the Allegheny River,” Seneca said.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with the City of Olean and with the mayor to try to come to a resolution in regards to this issue — to make sure we have a plan in place that’s going to move forward,” Seneca said.
That includes “utilizing all the different tools in our toolbox — to advocate for, to set up meetings, to try to get grants, to get funding for the projects,” Seneca said. “Everything and anything the Seneca Nation can do to help this process and work toward the goal of stopping the sewage from going into the river. We look forward to working with the City of Olean in regards to getting this done.”
Seneca added: “We’re not going to rest until this gets done, because what’s been occurring is unacceptable, and we have to do better in regards to our environment, and we have to do better as leadership in our nations and our cities, in regards with what’s happening with Mother Earth.”
Seneca announced members of the task force he’s appointed including Councilors Jonathan Williams, Joshua Becker, as well as Seneca members Kevin Jimeron and Scott John. Seneca will also be a member.
Seneca said the Nation plans to use its contacts with the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a bid to help the city apply for and receive grants to hasten corrective measures to end the sewage overflows.
It needs to be done in “a timely fashion,” Seneca said, noting that the state has given the city until 2042 to fix the problem.
“Millions of gallons of sewage has gone into, dumped into the Allegheny River, but our communities down river, I’m sure, certainly the City of Olean and the mayor and everyone here wants that to end.” Seneca members, he said, “hunt and fish around the river. They play in the river. We go swimming, you know. So it has a dramatic effect.”
The Seneca president mentioned one last effect, the water contaminated by Olean’s sewage overflows also covers the numerous Seneca graves in communities covered by the Allegheny Reservoir.
Aiello announced some of the members he plans to appoint to the task force, including himself: Water and Sewer Department Director Brad Camp, a soon-to-be-named city Public Works director, wastewater treatment plant operator Jeremy Meerdink and Common Council President John Crawford.
Aiello also announced the city had last week received an engineering grant from the state to help address the problem.
In times of very heavy rains, the city’s sanitary sewer system is often overcome with storm water coming from roof drains, sump pumps and some street catch basins where water has been routed to the sanitary sewers. The city has also been addressing leaky pipes by relining them in a bid to reduce infiltration into the sewer system. It spends about $250,000 a year
Aiello said the city hasn’t reported a sewage overflow since last June.
The Seneca president said that since 2007 there have been 46 instances of sewage overflow into the river at Olean representing millions of gallons of sewage. Between April and June 2024, 460,000 gallons of untreated sewage was diverted into the river.
“The status quo and following the current path cannot be an option,” Seneca said. “We know that, and I believe the city’s leaders understand that as well.”
Aiello said, “The meeting with the Seneca Nation opened our eyes to a lot of things. We are both here to get it resolved.”
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All Rights Reserved. Star News LLC. Eric M. Firkel.
