West Penn may hook up to East Penn treatment plant to address faulty sewer system in Andreas

West Penn Township may choose to hook up to a neighboring treatment plant to address a faulty sewer system in the Andreas area.

On a unanimous measure, supervisors Monday morning agreed to send a transmittal letter to Duane Schleicher, who owns an operating treatment plant in East Penn Township.

The letter says that in the near future, the township would like to evaluate being able to hook up to Schleicher’s sewer plant.

Board solicitor Paul J. Datte said the township is considering Schleicher’s treatment plant as an option for Andreas.

In September, Datte said that the owner is “very amenable” to taking on the sewage.

Board Chairman Tony Prudenti said at that time he’d want to know the distance between the township line and the treatment plant’s system, and was a little hesitant to spend township funds because it’s a private sewage facility.

Datte said the bigger concern is how much it would cost, adding that the township should ask its engineer to check into a cost estimate, financing options and number of users. Then the individuals would have to hook up, he said.

Prudenti said at that time there are people “who would like to fix their system, but are hearing this is coming and don’t want to spend $12,000 to $15,000.”

Datte said they would have to put a holding tank in, which would have to be pumped frequently, and once the holding tank comes out, have them hook up to the system.

He added that the township would need to talk to the adjacent community to see if they may have to amend their Act 537 sewage plan.

Datte said that the township would have to find out how many people would be connecting to it, and whether they could even shoulder such a financial responsibility.

Supervisor Tim Houser previously said he believes there would be about 17 properties in the Andreas area that would need to hook up.

Prudenti said the township should ask township sewage enforcement officer Bill Brior to look at the new systems that are out to see if they’re Department of Environmental Protection approved.

Prudenti said he didn’t want to spend money on a feasibility study if it wasn’t going to be cost-prohibitive.

Brior previously contacted the treatment plant in East Penn, which has an operating treatment plant capable of handling 100,000 gallons per day that’s only utilizing 30,000 gallons per day, as an option for the Andreas area.

Prudenti previously listed three alternatives under the Act 537 plan for the Andreas area: An on-lot sewage management program ($67,600); a packaged wastewater treatment facility ($1.4 million); and a community on-lot disposal system ($1.1 million).

In the meantime, a holding tank has been put in as a temporary solution, supervisors said.