The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 21, 2008

State halts new sewer connections in Hermitage; city believes ban will be short term

By Joe Pinchot

HERMITAGE — The state Department of Environmental Protection has barred most new connections to Hermitage’s sanitary sewer line and the issuance of new building permits.

City officials said Thursday they believe the ban will be short term and will not hamper any development projects in the city.

The officials said they were informed of the ban during a meeting with DEP officials Tuesday and have informed neighboring communities of the restrictions. Homes and businesses in parts of Clark, Wheatland, and South Pymatuning and Shenango townships currently send waste to Hermitage for treatment, and Jefferson Township is building a sanitary sewer system that will connect to Hermitage’s.

The city has been under a consent order and decree with DEP since 2003. The order was brought on by the city’s water pollution control plant’s inability to handle all the flow it got during heavy rains, which resulted in raw sewage being released into Bobby Run, which connects to the Shenango River.

Since then, the city has expanded its plant, replaced or rehabilitated lines and manholes, and implemented a program of review of lines to check for ground water and storm water getting into the system. The work has eliminated overflows, city officials have said.

In the past, DEP officials praised the city’s efforts.

However, things apparently changed when the city informed DEP it will not be able to complete a second plant expansion by 2010, a deadline set in the consent order.

The city has asked for an extension to complete the estimated $30 million project, City Manager Gary P. Hinkson said.

The expansion, which is being designed, will expand capacity at the plant from 5 million gallons a day to 7.7 million gallons and replace the old disinfection system with an anaerobic digestion system that will “cook” sludge and added food waste to create an end product that contains no harmful pathogens, can be handled by regular people, and would not necessarily have to be trucked to a landfill.

The city filed an application to renew its discharge permit in October, and DEP has not acted upon it. The permit expired in April.

Under the consent order, the city asks for an annual allocation of connections. In previous years, DEP approved the request and the city has never used up all that were allocated. Solicitor Thomas W. Kuster said the city submitted the same information it had in past years in asking for a new allocation, but DEP did not act on the request.

DEP considers the city to be out of compliance with the consent order, Hinkson said.

However, the meeting also produced a framework for the city to return to compliance. The city and DEP will need to amend the consent order — city officials said DEP has agreed to do that — and the city will submit more information and ask for an extension of time to expand the plant.

“We are working hard to provide the information that they need,” Hinkson said. “It’s our understanding that this is a temporary situation and then it will be resolved.”

Hinkson said DEP officials told him it will take 90 days to complete all the paperwork.

“We’re committed to getting it done and that’s the important thing,” Kuster said of the city’s obligations.

DEP will allow connections during the time of the ban for projects that eliminate failing on-lot systems, building projects at LindenPointe technical business park and Stateline Industrial Park, and projects of public need, such as medical facilities.

Hinkson said the city has no projects in the pipeline that would be affected by the ban.

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