Plans for a sewage system that will service Aquashicola, Walkton, Little Gap, Red Hill Road and Weiner Mobile Estates moved to the state Department of Environmental Protection, but hit a speed bump.

Gregory Haas, a professional engineer with Carbon Engineering Inc. in Summit Hill, said DEP is requesting that Palmerton borough formally adopt a resolution supporting Lower Towamensing Township's Official Sewage Facilities Plan, since the borough's water treatment plant will be used.The plan would utilize Palmerton's conveyance lines to service two small areas: Weiner Mobile Estates and five homes on Red Hill Road. Lower Towamensing Township formally submitted the plan to Palmerton Borough's Planning Commission, which reviewed it and made recommendations to the borough council.If the borough council approves it, then the plan will go back to DEP. Once an approved plan reaches DEP, it has up to 120 days to review it, Haas said.Borough manager Rodger Danielson said, following a recent council meeting, that representatives from Palmerton and Lower Towamensing Township will be meeting with DEP in March in Wilkes-Barre. Their hope is to come together as a group to find out what DEP needs in order to continue with the sewer plans."It's not a major deal, just really an administrative issue," Haas said.Once the plan is approved by DEP, design of the wastewater collection system and pumping stations can begin within a month. Many more steps need to be completed before construction of the collection system, pumping stations and expansion of the Blue Mountain Resort wastewater treatment plant can begin."We didn't do any field work yet," Haas said. The plans "are just demonstrating that we can service the areas."If everything else goes as planned, construction could begin in July 2018. The entire project is expected to be completed with final pavement restoration in April 2020.ProposalThe new sewer system will be comprised of gravity lines, manholes and pump stations and their associated force mains, according to the plan.Residents have questioned the 150-foot distance requirement from the main line requirement and how that affects which residences will be asked to hook up to the main line.Vice Chairman Ronald Walbert said at a meeting that the 150 feet is an arbitrary number.Haas added that 150 feet is the distance recommended by DEP.It is not "written in stone," he said, but DEP will make a final decision regarding the distance from the main."We will delineate a service area," Haas said. "Some people, not many, will be further away from the line."Currently, there are five to eight houses that are more than 150 feet from the proposed main line.A portion serving Aquashicola, Walkton and Little Gap will be treated at the Blue Mountain Ski Area Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will need to be upgraded.Another portion of the line serving Red Hill Road and Weiner Mobile Estates will be treated at the Palmerton Borough Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to the plan. That treatment plant will not need to be upgraded.Cost projectionsThe total cost of the project, including the treatment plant upgrade at Blue Mountain Resort, surveying, engineering, land acquisition, inspection, legal and administrative fees and interest, are estimated to be about $12.4 million. According to the sewage facilities plan, the total committed financing required for the project is about $9.6 million.Lower Towamensing Township supervisors said they planned to negotiate privately with Tuthill Corp., the operator of Blue Mountain Resort. Tuthill would pay almost $1.5 million to construct the new plant. The cost for the township to hook up to the plant, once it is constructed, would be $598,604.The sewage facilities plan lists tapping fees as about $4,000 per dwelling unit, which will be charged to the property owner. An annual user fee per household is about $942. Haas said the costs could be lower if they get grant money and interest rates stay low. The costs provided in the plan are a "snapshot in time."The plan stated that funding will be sought through the Rural Utilities Services program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Agency. The program was established to help rural communities in sore need of water treatment and sewage facilities afford them."The tapping fee is in line with municipalities in our area," township solicitor James Nanovic said.Nanovic said residents will receive a letter about 90 days before the day of hookup.Sewage problemsAccording to the sewage facilities plan, the main problems to be serviced are malfunctioning on-lot systems. Most of the malfunctioning systems are densely-packed cesspools, which affect the water quality.There are also a few holding tanks that have produced surface discharges, and the major problem in Weiner Mobile Estates is a large, malfunctioning in-ground system. WME was cited in 2009 for placing fill dirt over an existing septic area, but discharge came through to the surface anyway, according to a violation written by Sean Corey, the sewage enforcement officer for Lower Towamensing Township."That's a confirmed, system malfunction," Haas said.In all, there are 241 residential and commercial, sewage systems that are malfunctioning in some form within the area to be serviced. Many have been cited, he said.Aquashicola has 146 system malfunctions, including the Blue Mountain Pub on Forest Inn Road.Walkton has 44 malfunctioning systems.Little Gap has 45, including Covered Bridge Inn on Little Gap Road.Red Hill Road has five homes; and Weiner has one, but it services multiple mobile homes.Part of the problem is that some of the sewage discharge is getting into the creeks, such as Hunters Creek, Fireline Creek and the Aquashicola Creek.Hunters Creek has been designated in the past as a high-quality stream, Haas said. Aquashicola Creek is not considered high-quality, but it does support habitats, such as bog turtles.