Walker Township's revised sewage facilities plan has been submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection for review.

It was announced at Thursday's board of supervisors meeting that the plan was turned in to DEP as of last week, according to township secretary Ann Ostergaard.Ostergaard said Charlie Myers, of Rettew Engineering, received all the necessary paperwork from both the township, as well as West Penn Township, and was able to send the plan in last week to DEP.She said DEP will review the plan, and the townships will wait to see if there will be any necessary changes.In March, the board adopted a resolution to advance its revised sewage facilities plan to DEP.One of the requirements of the plan per DEP is that the township has an on-lot septic maintenance ordinance in place, which was previously adopted by the township in 2013, Ostergaard said.Ostergaard said that maintenance ordinance would require all residents of the township to have their on-lot septic systems pumped and inspected every three years.However, the ordinance would not take effect until about a year after the actual adoption of the Act 537 plan, she said.In January, officials from both municipalities conducted a joint meeting to review the plan, and to discuss any additional comments before submission to DEP.Both townships agreed then to table the adoption of resolutions on the plan, and instead requested a meeting with DEP and the West Penn/Walker Township Joint Sewer Committee, and to discuss a time extension with DEP.At that time, Myers said the next step was for both townships to adopt their ordinances.Everything after the submission is based on DEP's approval of the plan.Myers said the preferred plan is an on-lot disposal system because there are no big infrastructure costs.Walker engineer Dave Horst previously said there were 30 units, 24 in West Penn, and six in Walker, that the plan identifies as potentially needing a community on-lot sewage disposal.Horst said of the units in West Penn, 12 are in South Tamaqua, six in Andreas, four in Clamtown, and two in Snyders; while the remaining six are in Reynolds in Walker.As part of that plan, the 30 residences would either repair or replace their current system.DEP wants a solution presented in the plan for every user. If there are any users that cannot do on-lot systems, they have to have access to a community system.