Anville nature preserve construction

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Anyone know what's going on up here? I haven't been to this creek in ages, it looks good and the new work is great.

A construction crew is in the woods upstream of the wooden bridge. They have sewer caps off and are pumping discolored foul smelling water right into the creek as I type this.

Fishing with Geo. When he gets up here I'm hoping to get some pics. My phone won't take pictures anymore.

What gives?

 

[fly_doggie]

When you see something like that you need to call PAF&BC and PADEP. If no one calls then THEY get away with polluting OUR waters. That's the procedure we use over here in Chester County and we've been able to generate action on problems like that. This is the procedure that should be used statewide. Please, please call next time.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Once I got home I did call. Was told there is a sewer pipe project up there and they have permits. Still is it common practice to discharge into the creek? Besides a scolding anyone have any input to what was is going on? I really got nothing in return.

Thanks

 

[fly_doggie]

Thanx for calling and sorry for the scolding. It wasn't meant as such. Just trying to inform and encourage all on who to call if anyone sees such activity. IMHO discharging into a stream is not allowed, permits for work or not. We had a case where a sewer pipe leaked into the stream and the twp solution was to intentionally divert the sewage into the stream while repairs were made. Highly illegal. The PADEP was notified and a judge forced the twp to cease the discharge, install a temporary bypass and repair the whole sewer line that was in dismal condition to prevent future problems.

In this case, can the local WCO help get the ball rolling?

 

[wgmiller]

Brian -

I believe what was taking place was horizontal directional drilling for small diameter natural gas pipe. This was the black pipe that was coiled up on the trailer at the end of the road into the park. Miller Pipeline is most likely sub-contracted by UGI to lay the pipe and they in turn have a sub do the horizontal directional drilling. We saw the gas line work when we turned into the park.

From what I saw, there appeared to be no sewer line work going on in that area. I believe they had the manhole cover off to inspect the sewer line to make sure they didn't cross-bore into it. If you saw disturbance in the stream (bubbles, etc.), it could have come from soil disturbance below the stream bed. Couple that with the expected fowl odor from the manhole cover and voila!

Here's an image of horizontal directional drilling, which is a fairly common practice for running utilities when minimal surface disruption is desired:

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Geo was there with me and he is likely right. I will admit though it didn't look good to me, so I made the call. I heard nothing back so I assume it's on the up and up.

As you know, better safe than...

 

[fly_doggie]

Salv, thanx for the follow-up on this and my apologies again for the "scolding". wgmiller, thanx for the horizontal drilling explanation.

Yep, better safe than sorry!

 

[SteveG]

Fly_doggie, not sure where you are talking about, but are you referring to the event in Camp Hill? If so, they were fined because they discharged an amount that exceeded what they were allowed, and did not have a permit.

Discharge into a waterway is legal if permitted to do so. In my field of work, pressure washing, we run into this occasionally and require permits, and typically reclaim and filtration systems in order to meet or exceed requirements.

 

[moon1284]

Stevie g is correct. Water does not disappear, it all eventually ends up in our waterways. Water is treated and must meet requirements before it is discharged. If it doesn't meet requirements and it is discharged the permit is pulled and work stops.

 

[fly_doggie]

SteveG, it was not in Camp Hill. The problem I referred to was on Valley Creek in Chester County with raw sewage being discharged into the creek.