Area residents demand end to stormwater fee

WILKES-BARRE — About 70 Wyoming Valley area residents attended a Luzerne County Council committee meeting Tuesday to express their outrage over stormwater fees.

Larksville resident Brian Dwyer concurred with a Nanticoke man who described the fee on nonabsorbent impervious area as “extortion,” saying he is being threatened with water shutoff for refusing to pay.

Kingston resident Charles Urban said the situation is “just like the mafia.”

“You pay a monthly fee for protection, or I will destroy your business or your home,” Urban said.

Council’s Legislative Committee held the meeting at the Best Western Plus Genetti Hotel & Conference Center in the downtown to provide a format for some legislators and fee payers to share information and feedback.

Councilman and committee Chairman Harry Haas said a similar session will be held next month because not all area legislators were contacted. Some fee payers interested in speaking also deferred their comments because the committee wanted to keep Tuesday’s session to two hours.

County council has no jurisdiction over the fee, although the county administration agreed to research possible options to challenge a federal pollution reduction mandate and resulting fee. County officials have stressed it’s still unclear if legal action is viable and, if so, what it would cost and the time and resources involved.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, told the group Tuesday the fee, as structured, is “completely unacceptable.” He said he has been demanding answers and personally pointed out concerns to U.S. President Donald Trump.

State Rep. Karen Bobeck, R-Dallas, said the audience and legislators are “singing the same song” about the unfairness of a federal mandate that was not accompanied with federal funds.

Dwyer told the legislators he is contemplating moving out of Pennsylvania due to the stormwater fee and other rising taxes and fees.

Under the mandate, sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus in the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay must be reduced over the next five years. Some county municipalities have opted to comply by signing up for regional programs through the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority and Dallas Area Municipal Authority funded by stormwater fees.

State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, said the state Department of Environmental Protection also is requiring documentation of acid mine drainage locations, which may be an early indication of future plans to address that problem with fee funding down the road.

“It’s very, very, very concerning to me going forward,” Kaufer said, later describing the idea of area property owners being expected to fund the fixing of costly past coal mining pollution as “terrifying.”

State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said residents deserve a “full and complete” discussion about the mandate. Pennsylvania is fortunate to have 85,000 miles of waterways, but 40% are polluted, he said.

Fee payers in attendance made it clear they won’t be satisfied unless the fee is halted.

“We want it gone,” chanted Jackson Township resident Richard Manta, prompting others to join in.

Lehman Township resident Mike Stash, chairman of the new Taxpayer Power group, said the fee penalizes property owners for basic essentials — rooftops, sidewalks and driveways.

“These aren’t luxuries by any means,” Stash said.