DEP, Mid-Cameron Authority Reach Agreement on New Sewage Treatment Plant

WILLIAMSPORT – The Department of Environmental Protection and the Mid-Cameron Authority have agreed on a completion date for the authority’s new sewage treatment plant in Emporium Borough, Cameron County, according to DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell.

“We have agreed to extend the deadline for completion of the plant until July 31, and we are confident that the authority will have the plant in operation by that date,” said Yowell.

A February 2003 legal agreement required the authority to complete construction on the treatment plant by Dec. 10, 2005, but because of financing problems, construction delays and design alterations, the authority did not issue a notice to proceed with construction until January 2007.

The amended agreement announced today also requires the authority to pay a $15,900 civil penalty for several permit violations that occurred between June 2007 and January. The treatment plant improperly reported an unpermitted sewage bypass, and then failed to correct it promptly.

The permitted discharges of treated sewage from the facility were also found to have excess levels of suspended solids, fecal coliform and other pollutants. The discharges entered the Driftwood branch of Sinnemahoning Creek.

The authority will pay the fine to the Clean Water Fund in 13 installments ending in February 2009.