DEP Seeks Commonwealth Court Action to Resolve Huntingdon County Sewage Issues

HARRISBURG – The Department of Environmental Protection today filed a petition in Commonwealth Court to enforce a May 24, 2002, order requiring Cromwell Township, Huntingdon County, to implement its Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan and provide public sewers in areas identified as needing sewer service.

“The township needs to take constructive steps to address the ongoing problems with malfunctioning septic systems and the environmental and public health threats posed by these systems,” said DEP Southcentral Regional Director Rachel Diamond.

The Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, also known as Act 537, requires municipalities to develop and implement official comprehensive plans that resolve existing sewage disposal problems and provide for the future sewage disposal needs of new land development and the municipality.

DEP approved Cromwell’s Act 537 plan revision in August 2000. After the department issued the order directing Cromwell to begin designing and constructing the needed sewage facilities, the township requested and received three extensions to implement the plan.

When the township received bids in July 2005 that exceeded initial estimates and would have resulted in higher user rates, it requested the opportunity to investigate alternative options. The township then signed an agreement to send its sewage to the Orbisonia-Rockhill Joint Municipal Authority in November 2005 for a reduced cost at the same level of service. In January 2006, DEP approved the township’s amended plan containing the Orbisonia-Rockhill Joint Municipal Authority agreement.

That arrangement was never allowed to take effect, however, after then-newly elected township supervisors repealed previous ordinances that were necessary to implement the sewage agreement with the Orbisonia-Rockhill Joint Municipal Authority. The township also went to the Environmental Hearing Board to appeal DEP’s approval of Cromwell’s plan that contained the authority’s agreement.

The joint municipal authority subsequently filed suit against Cromwell in April 2006 and asked the Huntingdon County Court to enforce the agreement and/or reimburse Orbisonia-Rockhill Joint Municipal Authority for legal and engineering costs. Cooperation between the authority and Cromwell ceased and DEP rescinded its January 2006 approval in October. Cromwell refused to withdraw its appeal, but the Environmental Hearing Board dismissed the appeal as unnecessary.

“Cromwell Township seemed to be moving forward, but took a major step backward,” said Diamond. “Township officials need once again to begin their attempts to resolve this issue in order to protect the public’s health and the environment.”

The petition to enforce will require Cromwell Township to implement the department’s May 24, 2002 order that calls for certain areas of the township to be sewered and served at a treatment plant operated by Cromwell.