Parryville borough looks for source of septic leak

Residents in Parryville borough have no public sewer system, and it’s believed that at least one private septic system is leaking into storm drains connected to the Pohopoco Creek.

The small borough’s sewage problems are nothing new. They have discussed the need for a sewage treatment plant for at least 28 years.

But some are concerned that the problem may be affecting the quality of the Pohopoco Creek. After a resident’s complaint to the state Attorney General’s office last year, the borough conducted testing and found evidence that water from a septic system was entering a storm drain, including odor and elevated bacteria levels.

The borough has not been successful in finding the source of the raw sewage, despite testing at least one resident’s septic system.

Meanwhile, the borough is in the process of updating the borough’s Act 537 sewage facilities plan, the first step toward a new sewage treatment system. Building a sewage treatment facility would cost a reported $5 million, and connecting to a nearby system would cost $2-3 million.

Complaint filed

In a complaint filed last June, a resident told an investigator with the AG’s office that he had contacted the borough multiple times, and complained to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency years ago, all without results.

An unidentified resident made a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General in June 2017. An investigator with the AG’s office informed the resident that they couldn’t investigate the pollution unless DEP referred the case to them.

The AG’s office passed along the information to the complaint to DEP, who then sent it to the borough.

Borough testing

State law puts most of the responsibility for sewage treatment on local boroughs, not DEP. The agency told the borough to reply with a plan of how they would correct the leaking sewage, however they didn’t specify a penalty.

The borough’s sewage enforcement officer, Barry Isett and Associates, conducted tests at several sites in the borough. That is on top of the inspection that residents are required to get every three years.

Barry Isett determined there was an elevated level of e.coli bacteria in the storm drain outlet located near the bridge carrying Center Street over the Pohopoco Creek.

They also detected an odor of sewage in two storm inlets, and saw graywater — sewage without any fecal matter — in one.

The sewage enforcement officer reported the findings to DEP. They tested several homes near the site and found that at least two were discharging graywater into the storm drains.

The next step would be addressing the sewage. Borough officials during their meeting last month said that connecting all homes in the borough to a shared system would cost nearly $40,000 per residence.

DEP officials said they asked the borough for a new sewage facilities plan in July, around the time they received the complaint, but none has been filed. In 1990 the borough unsuccessfully sought a grant for a treatment plant. At the time, council told residents to have their wells tested for contamination.

In March, council members said they hope to meet with DEP soon to explain the situation regarding the cost of a sewage system for the borough.