A University treatment plant may become part of a regional sewage diversion plan to accommodate excess wastes in the State College area, one regional planner for the Centre Region said.

A preliminary plan to utilize the University Sewage Treatment Plant on East College Avenue is part of a University Area Joint Authority treatment plan to better handle area sewage, said Bob Crum, Regional Planner for the Centre Region.

The plan was drafted by Gannett Fleming Environmental Engineers of Baltimore.

The regional plan is a requirement of the state Department of Environmental Resources, Act 537, which dictates all municipalities have a plan to dispose of sewage, said John Miknis, a Patton Township engineer who reviewed the first draft of the plan.

"The plan is for the University Area Joint Authority sewage treatment plant," Crum said. "The borough is currently negotiating and working with the University on the specifics of a proposed diversion of sewage flow to take place in the early 1990s."

The diversion plan update, now in its preliminary stages, will divert excessive borough wastes to the UAJA plant, said Jeff Stamm, the Gannett Fleming engineer who heads the Centre Region project.

"Although they're just in the preliminary negotiating stages, the borough is going to have to cut back the amount of (waste) flow that they discharge to the University plant," Stamm said. "They are going to divert some of the flow which currently goes to the University plant to the UAJA."

Stamm said the diversion project will be implemented, depending on final negotiations, sometime after the planed expansion of the UAJA plant, to be completed in 1992.

"The expansion is required when the flow at any treatment plant reaches 80 percent of (its) permitted flow. The DER requires them to initiate planning for dealing with these increases," Stamm said.

The first draft was reviewed, and regional and municipal officials submitted reviews to the firm's consultant, Crum said.

At a meeting last Friday, attended by regional planners of Centre County and representatives from the borough department of public works, Gannett Flemming discussed the plan's first draft.

"We went over some of the outstanding issues, and relayed our progress on responding to municipal comments from the different townships," Stamm said.

Stamm said he felt the meeting went well and that borough officials were pleased, "specifically with the borough DPW people."

"We went over their comments and our responses and I think that they were satisfied that we are addressing the issues," Stamm said.

Stamm said revised portions of the plan will be sent to regional planners and the borough DPW and Gannett Fleming will accept any additional comments. The second draft of the plan will be submitted in mid-March, Stamm said.