Police
called to calm meeting
By Freda R. Savana, Intelligencer, April 8, 2009
After hours of emotional debate, supervisors approved plans
for a sewage storage tank to be built.
Two Plumstead police officers and the chief were called
to settle the crowd at Tuesday's supervisors meeting, after a screaming match erupted and the chairman was unable to control
the outburst.
Tempers calmed after a 15 minute recess and the police presence
was no longer needed.
At issue was a highly controversial surge tank the Bucks
County Water and Sewer Authority has been ordered to build by the state Department of Environmental Protection to help stop
raw sewage from spilling onto yards and polluting wells in the township.
The board voted 4-1 to approve a variance the authority
needed to move forward with construction of the 300,000-gallon tank behind its pumping station near Groveland Elementary
School off Route 611. Supervisor
Tom Alvare voted no.
The tank will store the excess sewage water that's now flooding
properties then discharge it to the pumping station. Although open on the top, BCSWA officials said it will have sensors that
will automatically shut it off to prevent it from overflowing.
Rumors the sewage would be emptied into the nearby creek
are false, said the authority's attorney, John Koopman.
For more than two hours, residents decried the project,
although some agreed it was a necessary "Band-Aid," for a problem they said has reached critical mass.
Richard McNutt, chairman of the township's park and recreation
committee and an environmentalist, accused the board of "aiding and abetting criminal behavior" if they allowed the tank to
be built. He, and others, said the true crisis lies in the leaking pipes in the system and insisted the authority should be
required to make those repairs.
As the board's chairman, Vince Formica, repeatedly slammed
his gavel, asking McNutt to allow others an opportunity to speak, he was shouted down with demands to let McNutt continue
and calls to "stop poisoning us."
McNutt said, "you'll have to call the sheriff" to prevent
him from speaking. That's when Formica called for a recess.
Throughout the often raucous debate, representatives from
the BCWSA said the authority was attempting to remedy the problem caused when there are heavy rains.
Koopman said the BCWSA recognizes the problem of leaking
pipes but said the leaks are in the lateral lines that run to people's homes and the authority does not have the power to
force residents to make repairs.
McNutt and others said the problem lies in the system's
main lines and a 20-year-old system that is flawed in its design and engineering.
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