Slatington submits plan for wastewater treatment

Slatington has submitted an emergency management system update for its wastewater treatment plant.

Borough council and the Slatington Borough Authority held a joint special meeting on Monday for the purpose of considering and approving a plan for the plant.

Both entities agreed that, having reviewed the comments and recommendations of the wastewater treatment plant, operators, and the solicitor, to approve the emergency management system update prepared by the operators for submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection by Friday.

Council President Bryon Reed explained the purpose of the plan.

“An emergency management system, it’s like a living document,” Reed said. “If there’s an emergency, they follow this book.”

Council authorized the operators and solicitor to submit a status report to the DEP on the borough’s efforts to develop an inflow and infiltration plan with the Lehigh County Authority. That measure was not required, but plant operators and the solicitor thought it would be helpful.

“Lehigh County Authority is a customer of us, we sell them water and we take in sewer through Washington Township,” Reed said. “We’re kind of partners with the Lehigh County Authority, and we asked them if they will help us with our Inflow and Infiltration.”

Reed said he believes the borough is way ahead of a lot of municipalities as a result of its $7 million wastewater infrastructure project in 2009.

“DEP wants to see that,” he said. “We’re just trying to be proactive and be ahead of it.”