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The Wyoming Valley isn’t the only area wrestling with a new stormwater fee and federal water pollution reduction mandate.
In Luzerne County’s southern end, Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat and his administration have been encouraging city council to implement a fee to generate funding to meet the mandate.
The city had been fined several years ago for failing to comply with some stormwater management requirements, and he fears that will happen again. Council had enacted a stormwater fee in 2013 but later revoked it, with some officials citing the financial burden.
“Obviously, this is something that needs to be done,” Cusat said, referring to a funded compliance plan.
City Project Manager Alan Wufsus said the state Department of Environmental Protection had warned the city would not have an opportunity to negotiate a fine reduction if it fails to comply again, and a fine on top of corrective measures would mean city residents are “paying twice.”
Wufsus said the main proposal is for a flat fee in three categories — residential, commercial and industrial — as opposed to ones based on non-absorbent, impervious area (IA) square footage in regional stormwater fee programs implemented by the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority on behalf of 32 municipalities.
The Dallas Area Municipal Authority also plans an IA-based fee for the three Back Mountain municipalities it is representing, although the 2019 amount will be a flat fee for each equivalent dwelling unit.
“We feel that would be more fair,” Wufsus said of the flat fee.
‘Kids didn’t realize’
Hazleton falls in two watersheds, with stormwater from one portion draining into the Susquehanna River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay and the other landing in the Lehigh River, which is part of the Delaware River Basin.
The U.S. Environmental Protection pollution reduction mandate applies to both, Wufsus said.
One of his proposed solutions centers on catch basins, which must be mapped as part of the mandate.
He estimated there are about 1,400 basins in the city, and 200 to 300 have hoods with openings large enough for cans, bags and other garbage to flow through.
Upgrading the hooded basins with grating would screen out more garbage, he explained.
The city also needs a new vacuum truck to comply with another requirement to suck up sediment and debris from the catch basins to prevent it from landing in waterways, Wufsus said, noting the city’s existing truck is almost 18 years old and at the end of its service life.
Purchase of a camera that can be snaked through pipes also would be worthwhile to investigate infiltration from sewage or other debris, he said.
In an effort to show progress in public education while awaiting funding, Wufsus said he has been working with children from the nonprofit Hazleton Integration Project to stencil and discuss the catch basins, which are also called inlets.
“The kids didn’t realize as they were walking around how many straws, potato chip bags and other garbage was getting caught in these inlets,” Wufsus said.
During one stenciling session, the children admonished a woman who was trying to pour oil or grease down a basin, telling her it would end up in a stream that should be clean for fishing and swimming, he said.
More rain gardens and vegetated nooks to help absorb and purify runoff also may be possible in the largely developed city, which contains numerous paved parking lots.
Wufsus said some other areas already have fees and programs in place to address the mandate, including Reading and Allentown.
Other areas
In neighboring Hazle Township, officials plan to spend an estimated $50,000 for an engineer to meet the mandate of mapping and detailing all catch basins, said Supervisor Chairman Jim Montone.
The township has an estimated 2,700 catch basins, he said.
A vacuum truck also may be purchased. The township leases a street sweeper but could end up buying one if more frequent cleanings become necessary, said Montone.
While the goal is to cover the costs without a stormwater fee, he said township officials are still assessing the mandate requirements to determine if additional measures are needed.
Freeland started a stormwater fee years ago to generate revenue to repay infrastructure loans that funded installation of catch basins and pipes throughout the borough, and additional basins are still needed, officials said.