West Pittston completes $3.4 million sewer-separation phase along Wyoming Avenue

West Pittston completed the latest phase of its Sewer Separation Project along Wyoming Avenue by July 24, 2026, giving the borough a finished infrastructure improvement in an area where sanitary sewage and stormwater have traditionally placed pressure on the sewer system.

The completed phase was reported to cost $3.4 million. Its funding included a $2 million grant from Luzerne County’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation and a $2.6 million grant through Pennsylvania’s H2O PA Water Supply, Sanitary Sewer, and Stormwater Projects Program.

State, county and borough officials gathered to review the completed work. The project separates sanitary sewer flows from stormwater flows, a design intended to reduce the amount of rainwater entering the sanitary sewer system and ease pressure on West Pittston’s sewer infrastructure.

How the project affects the system

Sanitary sewers are designed primarily to carry wastewater. When stormwater enters those lines during rain, it can increase the volume moving through the system and add pressure to infrastructure that must handle sewage. Separating the flows is intended to improve how the system handles wastewater while reducing stormwater-related pressure.

The improvement is particularly relevant in West Pittston, a flood-prone borough. Keeping stormwater and sanitary sewage on separate paths can help limit pollution and flooding-related problems within the sewer system. The completed work is an infrastructure milestone, but it should not be read as eliminating flood risk in the borough.

The project also represents a significant public investment in West Pittston’s sewer and stormwater infrastructure. The county and state grants identified for the phase total more than the reported phase cost, but the public reporting describes them as funding sources included in the project rather than providing a detailed breakdown of how each grant was allocated.

Separate flood-resilience work

Luzerne County’s hazard-mitigation planning records identify a separate West Pittston Borough levee project. That project is intended to better protect approximately 900 properties in the Special Flood Hazard Area.

The levee project is not the same as the completed sewer-separation work along Wyoming Avenue. Together, the projects show how flood-resilience planning in West Pittston includes both flood-protection infrastructure and improvements to the systems that carry stormwater and wastewater.

What the milestone means

The July 24 review marked completion of the latest phase, not confirmation that every segment of West Pittston’s broader sewer-separation program has been finished. The completed work along Wyoming Avenue is therefore a defined project milestone rather than a declaration that the boroughwide program is over.

For the borough, the immediate result is a completed separation of sanitary and stormwater flows on that project segment, supported by county ARPA funding and Pennsylvania’s H2O PA program. The work adds to West Pittston’s ongoing effort to strengthen aging infrastructure in a community with documented flood-resilience needs.