News

June 27, 2008

DEP fines Mountain Top Sanitary Authority $10,000 in fish kill

DEP says it believes ammonia discharge caused death of 2,800 fish last September.

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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The Mountain Top Area Joint Sanitary Authority was fined nearly $10,000 by the state Department of Environmental Protection for its alleged role in a September 2007 fish kill in the Big Wapwallopen Creek.

The agency announced details of the fine on Wednesday. The kill resulted from an ammonia discharge by the authority, according to DEP, and killed an estimated 2,800 fish, including 200 brown trout.

The $9,548 civil penalty includes a $4,400 fine and $5,148 to DEP to cover its costs.

Authority executive director Tom Keiper said the fine has been paid.

“The authority felt it was fair resolution to an unfortunate situation,” he said.

DEP and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission investigated the fish kill from Sept. 8-11 after it was discovered. The fish kill occurred downstream from the authority in Dorrance Township.

“The department conducted a comprehensive stream survey immediately after the fish kill and found that the authority’s discharge had a negative impact on fish in the stream and to the Big Wapwallopen Creek’s overall biological community,” said DEP Northeast Regional Director Michael Bedrin.

In addition to the fish kill, the ammonia discharge impacted the macroinvertebrates in the stream, including aquatic insects, crustaceans, snails and worms.

Keiper said he isn’t sure what caused the discharge but said it could have occurred from construction activities at the plant or from something that entered the facility from the Crestwood Industrial Park.

Whatever the cause, Keiper said it upset the plant’s nitrification process and caused the ammonia discharge.

He added that the authority would like to see ordinances in place giving it some control of what comes into the plant.

“Because we’re a biological process, we need pre-treatment standards to control what comes in here,” he said.

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