Washington, PA Observer-Reporter
14 January 2009
By Cara Host, Staff writer
chost@observer-reporter.com
WAYNESBURG - Three months after the borough's sewage treatment plant abandoned the lucrative practice of treating natural gas well water, council directed its plant manager to look into treating the water again, albeit on a much smaller scale.
In response to contamination on the Monongahela River, the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered all treatment plants that discharge to the Mon or its tributaries to drastically reduce the amount of waste water treated.
However, Arthur Bowser, plant engineer, said the plant still is allowed to accept a small amount of waste water. He asked council Monday for permission to treat water from one truck a day at the local plant. Council granted that permission and asked plant manager Sam McCollough to look into the issue.
The practice should generate about $300 a day for the borough, which is a far cry from the $530,000 that was collected through the first 10 months of 2008.
"Still, 300 bucks, that's enough to make it worth our while," Bowser said.
For the past two years or so, the treatment plant accepted a large amount of waste water, which is a by-product of drilling natural gas wells. That came to an abrupt end in October, when elevated levels of totally dissolved solids were detected on the river. DEP took steps to mitigate the contamination by restricting the treatment plants, since many are not able to eliminate the solids before discharging the water.
DEP is working with drilling companies and others to develop standards for treating the water, and it is possible the Waynesburg plant will be allowed to treat a larger volume of water later. If that happens, and the borough's revenue stream is restored, council members said they will probably reduce the property taxes that were raised last year.
In other business, council: