Horsham Council Pens Letter To DOD: Government Should Pay For Water Cleanup

HORSHAM, PA -- The Horsham Township Council has penned a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense stating that they should foot the bill for the remediation efforts currently being covered by taxpayers.

In a resolution dated on Thursday, September 15, Horsham Township manager William T. Walker explained that it will cost $1.2 million per year to remediate the township's water supply contaminated by activities on the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base and Horsham Air Guard Station. The money is also needed for Horsham to purchase water from the North Wales Water Authority.

The new tax surcharge went into effect on Thursday.

"This surcharge places a tremendous and unacceptable financial burden on the Authority's customers, and they should not bear the responsibility for paying for it," the letter states. "The military has an obligation to fully remediate the local groundwater sources."

The U.S. Navy has agreed to pay for filters for wells which have chemical contaminants exceeding the level which the EPA has determined to be safe, officials said. But the letter and corresponding resolution passed by the Horsham council asks that the military pay for all costs of short-term remediation, and for the cost of purchasing water from North Wales.

"We ask that you take a leadership role and accept responsibility for the contamination of the public and private water supplies," the letter continues.

To read the full letter, see here.

Patch file photo.