DEP Fines Abington $34K For Paperwork Snafu

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, PA —The township is paying a $34,100 fine to the Department of Environmental Protection as a civil penalty.

But it could have been much worse, officials said.

At its recent meeting, the Abington Township Board of Commissioners authorized the payment from its refuse fund balance with officials saying that the fine was from "no environmental harm and was purely administrative."

Township Manager Richard Manfredi explained to the audience at the July 11 commissioners' meeting about the matter.

"We are confident that we can prevent a human error," Manfredi said. "I know that everyone strives to do their best. We all make mistakes. We have put things in place so that this won't happen again."

Manfredi's answer drew the ire of residents who wondered how such a situation could happen and how the township was wasting money that could be used elsewhere.

Township Solicitor Michael Clarke then went into deeper detail.

He said there was a paperwork and permit issue in which a former employee had not filed timely reports to the DEP or any reports at all.

Clarke said that the initial fine was for $45,000, but that the township negotiated it down due to stipulations that measures would prevent such paperwork snafus in the future.

"We have instituted procedures as a fail-safe so that this won't happen again," Clarke said. "The DEP is very happy that we established protocols and was happy to reduce the fine."