Penn Hills set to fix costly sewage leak at Plum Creek Sewage Treatment Plant
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Penn Hills council on Monday awarded approximately $940,000 in construction contracts that will, when finished, fix a problem that has caused sewage leaks at the Plum Creek Sewage Treatment Plant.
The project involves fixing the plant’s equipment that treats sewage and monitors flow as well as upgrading its disinfection system. Those issues were identified in a 2019 consent order from the Allegheny County Health Department.
The consent order mandated the municipality to fix the treatment plant’s system because ACHD had found 18 leaks of fecal coliform bacteria into Plum Creek from 2016 to 2018. The discovery led to a $17,500 fine levied against Penn Hills in January 2019 and, 10 months later, a consent order requiring a permanent fix.
Fecal coliform bacteria are generally not harmful, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. However, “(fecal coliform bacteria) indicate the possible presence of pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria,” according to the EPA’s website.
Since the consent order, the plant has reported one additional leak, which led to another $100 fine.
The first contract, awarded to SE Construction Group, amounted to $738,697. The second contract went to JP Environmental for $87,900. That money will go toward replacing equipment used to treat sewage at the plant.
A third and final contract went to Elcon Technologies for $111,060. That money will be used to upgrade the system’s equalization controls.
Jennifer Cohn, acting director of Penn Hills’ Water Pollution Control Department, said she expects the project to be completed by the end of 2021.
She said Plum Borough Municipal Authority has agreed to reimburse Penn Hills for 44.64% of the total cost under the first two contracts. She said the reimbursement amount for the third contract will depend on how much the new equipment is determined to serve Plum.
Plum’s water authority could not immediately be reached for comment.
Officials blamed Plum Creek Sewage Treatment Plant’s problems on excessive rainfall in the area. The plant’s disinfection system was installed in 2008 and originally was designed to treat a maximum of 12 million gallons of wastewater per day.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Moon Township declared 2018 as the wettest year in Pittsburgh history with more than 57.41 inches.
So far in 2020, the NWS has tracked 31.81 inches of rain in the Pittsburgh region, which is normal by this time of the year, according to NWS data.
Meanwhile, Penn Hills continues to fix and update its outdated sewage system, which includes 244 miles of underground sewer lines, 12 pump stations, seven equalization stations and two sewage treatment plants.