Friday,
March 21, 2008
BY
DAVID DEKOK AND DIANA FISHLOCK
Of
The Patriot-News
A proposed environmental cleanup effort could
cost five Dauphin County communities millions of dollars.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said
the Paxton Creek watershed, which includes Wildwood Lake, is impaired by
phosphate and sediment pollution. The agency has proposed stricter discharge
limits that would begin between two and eight years from now.
The
cost to residents of Harrisburg and Penbrook, and Susquehanna, Lower Paxton and
Swatara townships might be substantial, said sources familiar with the
situation.
"I've been eagerly looking forward to it
for years, frankly," said E. Drannon Buskirk Jr., of West Hanover Twp.,
founder of the nonprofit Paxton Creek Watershed and Education Association.
"We've been working on this problem for five years, with all the
runoff."
Phosphates in the environment come from sources
including dish detergent and runoff from farms, yards and golf courses,
scientists said. About 5,900 pounds of phosphates per year go into the Paxton
Creek watershed, and the new maximum limit is 978 pounds, EPA said.
Sediment can come from farms -- although there
are few, if any, left in the watershed -- and from development, of which there
is much.
Part of the phosphate problem could disappear
after July 1, 2010, when manufacturers must switch to dish detergents with no
more than 0.5 percent phosphates.
Dennis Griesing, a spokesman for the Soap and
Detergent Association in Washington, D.C., said up to 8.7 percent phosphates
are allowed in household detergents now.
The EPA report pointed to the Harrisburg
Authority sewage treatment plant as a problem.
Harrisburg's old-style combined sewage and
stormwater system has 31 discharge points into Paxton Creek, the EPA said.
During heavy rainfall, volume can exceed the system's capacity, sending
untreated sewage into the creek.
EPA said the five municipalities must reduce
phosphate discharges by an average 84.2 percent, but doesn't say how it must be
done.
Bill Cluck, an environmental lawyer in
Harrisburg who monitors Chesapeake Bay issues for the Harrisburg Regional
Chamber, said the most costly option would be requiring the Harrisburg
Authority to separate its storm and sanitary sewer lines.
In addition, the authority faces the cost of
meeting state requirements to reduce phosphate and nutrient discharges into the
Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Fifty-four midstate municipalities have
expressed unhappiness with the cost of their Chesapeake Bay upgrades by joining
a lawsuit against the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The EPA held a lightly attended meeting
Wednesday night seeking public comment on the proposed Paxton Creek limits.
Although the meeting was advertised, the EPA did
not notify municipal officials, said Lower Paxton Twp. manager George Wolfe,
who learned of the meeting from a consultant. He contacted officials in
Harrisburg and the other municipalities.
"This hasn't been handled well," he
said.
Cluck said the public comment deadline is April
3, but the Harrisburg Builders Association has requested a two-week extension.
A final EPA report on the new limits is expected at the end of June.
John Luciew contributed to this report. DIANA
FISHLOCK: 255-8251 or dfishlock@patriot-news.com DAVID DEKOK: 255-8173 or ddekok@patriot-news.com
TO COMMENT
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is
seeking public comment through April 3 on establishing strict pollution limits
for the Paxton Creek watershed. To comment, contact Lenka Berlin at
berlin.lenka@epa.gov For more information, visit www.epa.gov/
reg3wapd/tmdl/pa_tmdl/ PaxtonCreek3-4-08/index.html or www.paxtoncreek.org.