"Green" Project at Waterman Center in Apalachin Nears Completion

Construction work on a big infrastructure improvement initiative at the Waterman Conservation Education Center in Tioga County is almost done.

The project at the center's property on Hilton Road in Apalachin started last fall.

Executive director Christopher Audette said the job is about 90 percent complete. He said the center now has a "nicely paved parking lot" which will help eliminate most water runoff from the property.

Audette said water now can sink through the permeable pavement and go through a "big layer of crushed stone" until it eventually percolates through the soil underground.

A newly-constructed retention pond at Waterman Conservation Education Center in Apalachin. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

Speaking on WNBF Radio's Binghamton Now program, Audette said the system will permit better filtration of water from the site and prevent it from picking up contaminants from the parking area.

Much of the project's cost is being covered by a $330,000 grant from New York state government. Area foundations and businesses also have provided financial support for the work.

Audette said some elements of the project, including tree planting and line painting in the parking lot, still must be done.

Audette said a foundation grant is funding a separate project involving the construction of a small pavilion that will serve as an outdoor classroom.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com.

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