Greenville Sanitary Authority agreed Wednesday to collect and treat an anticipated larger volume of sewage from St. Paul Homes in West Salem Township.

The authority already receives sewage from St. Paul's, but the sewage makes it to the authority's wastewater treatment plant via Hempfield Township.

St. Paul's wants to pump its sewage first to and through West Salem Township.

St. Paul's hopes to break ground late this summer on an estimated $30 million expansion project that could more than double its daily volume of wastewater, according to St. Paul's Executive Director Brian Oros.

Oros said Hempfield Township does not have the sewage capacity to handle the extra flow.

Oros said St. Paul's could front as much as a half-million dollars to resolve the sewage issues, which remain the only question mark in the expansion project. St. Paul's would spend most of that money extending lines to latch onto the West Salem Township system.

St. Paul's plans to expand its health center to accommodate up to 50 more residents and build 28 new cottage estates, Oros said. Within three years, Oros hopes there could be up to 85 new residents.

The Greenville Sanitary Authority is the first of several approvals St. Paul's will need before it can break ground on the project. The plans also need the blessing of West Salem Township supervisors and the township sanitary authority, the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission and the state Department of Environmental Protection.