Politics & Government

Proposed $68M Sewage Treatment Plant Infuriates Neighbors

A proposal to reopen a sewage treatment plant off the Newtown Bypass has residents of the Crown Pointe neighborhood fuming.

A group of Newtown Township residents are outraged over the possibility of a $68 million sewage treatment plant opening just a few hundred feet from their neighborhood. 

But Newtown Joint Municipal Authority Board of Directors Chairman Eric Johnson said the proposal, which he emphasized is still in the “very preliminary” stages, may be the best solution to handle the area’s increasing sewage.

The plant would be located at the site of the former treatment plant, off the bypass between Routes 413 and 532, behind George School. That treatment plant has been out of operation since the 1980s.

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During a meeting of the Newtown Joint Municipal Board of Directors on Tuesday, a group of residents from the Crown Pointe neighborhood, located off Buck Road, said the proposed sewage treatment plant would lower their property values, smell bad and may have environmental impacts.

“It’s going to stink,” said resident Rick Bankoff. “There is going to be major collateral damage. You’re going to turn Newtown into Cleveland.”

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Johnson and Authority Manager Warren Gormley say the newest technology will enable the creation of an indoor plant that would not emit unpleasant odors to surrounding neighborhoods. 

The proposed plant would handle as much as two and a half million gallons of sewage a day. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is “very thrilled” that Newtown is considering the project, Johnson added.

Gormley explained to the residents that something has to be done about sewage treatment in Bucks County. There has been a moratorium on building permits because Bucks County’s sewer line is hydraulically overloaded, he explained. 

“Because of that, we are looking for options. Everything is preliminary. There is nothing written in stone that this is happening,” Gormley said.

Currently, Newtown’s sewage is handled by the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, which sends some of its waste to Philadelphia’s overloaded system, Johnson explained. 

"Their systems are falling apart. They are leaking raw sewage all over the place," Johnson said.    

The process comes with a hefty price tag for Newtown—on average, the Municipal Authority pays about a quarter of a million dollars a month to treat local waste, an expense that is passed on to ratepayers.

Over the last nine years, rates have exponentially increased, Municipal Authority Member Allen Fidler explained. “It’s an assumption they will continue (to increase). If that is the case, the best option financially may be to consider our own treatment facility reactivated if it’s cost effective,” he said. 

Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Gallagher, who was present at Tuesday’s meeting, said all options must be considered. Gallagher said the lack of sewage capacity is causing local development projects to halt.

A mixed-use development at the former Acme site on Sycamore Street hasn’t moved forward because the anchor tenant won’t sign a lease until they are guaranteed a sewer permit, Gallagher said. 

Qdoba, a Mexican restaurant slated to come to the Village at Newtown Shopping Center, can’t open up because of sewer capacity, he said.

“We are responsible for considering the community as a whole and considering how this sewer process fits in,” Gallagher said, adding he invites all members of the community to contribute ideas to help solve the problem.

“I’d be more than happy to speak to you as often as possible,” Gallagher said, adding he lives in a neighborhood that is also close to the proposed plant. "I share your same concerns."

 


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