Newtown Sewer Authority Investigating Plans For Treatment Facility

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Newtown, Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority is investigating the possibility of acquiring land and building its own sewage treatment plant in the township that could save ratepayers in the long run, the authority said.

During remarks before the Newtown Borough Council on Wednesday, the authority’s executive director Warren Gormley said the authority is looking into the feasibility of acquiring a 17.5-acre tract on Lower Silver Lake Road for the construction of a state-of-the-art treatment facility to serve the authority’s 9,000 customers in Newtown Township and Newtown Borough.

“We have not made an offer as of yet,” said Gormley. “We are talking about it. We’re also putting numbers together for the cost of the treatment plant and the rates and projecting what the cost would be 10, 15, 20, and 30 years out.

“We’ve talked to the Department of Environmental Resources (DEP) and the DEP is on board with us. We also talked to the township and they are on board as well,” said Gormley.

So what is driving the need for a new sewer treatment plant?

Gormley points to the Neshaminy Interceptor as a big reason. The trunk line, which is owned by Bucks County Water & Sewer, is used to convey sewage from Newtown and 12 other Bucks County municipalities to Philadelphia where it is treated by the Philadelphia Water Company.

The conveyance line requires a $200 million upgrade to address sanitary sewer overflows. That cost, along with improvements to infiltration and inflow issues throughout the system, is now being passed on to the municipal users by the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority. The first such rate increase went into effect earlier this year. At least two additional rate hikes are coming, said Gormley.

Another driver, said Gormley, is the City of Philadelphia, which is treating the waste flowing in from the suburbs. They pass along their cost to Bucks County Water & Sewer, which incorporates that into its rates.

“We have no recourse in rate increases, rate adjustments or negotiations. That’s all done by Bucks County and Philadelphia,” said Gormley.

By building its own state-of-the-art system that would treat the waste in Newtown, the community “can steer our own ship in the future,” he said.

The authority had operated its own treatment plant until 1988 when financially it made sense to close the plant and to go with Bucks County and Philadelphia.

The authority is now “doing its due diligence” to explore whether going it alone again will benefit its ratepayers.

“We’ve talked to The First National Bank. We have funding for the purchase of the land. We are looking at bond counsel. We’re moving in increments. Not fast, but we’re moving,” Gormley told the council.

Having its own treatment plant, said Gormley, would allow local ratepayers to take control over its future.

When asked by councilman Kris Bauman whether he thought building its own plant would save ratepayers money, Gormley said, “In the long run it will.

“It’s definitely going to because Bucks County rates are going to continue to go up. The increases from Philly haven’t come in quite some time so I’m sure that’s right around the corner,” he said.

According to Gormley, the authority is looking at building a 2.5 million gallon per day Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR) treatment plant.

“It’s the newest thing that’s out. We’re looking at an over 2.5 million (gallons per day) facility. It’s going to be pretty good size but a lot of it is going to be undercover. There’s not that much odor to this only because it’s moved constantly with air all the time in the tanks and that’s what breaks it up.”

Gormley said he would keep borough officials apprised as the authority conducts its due diligence.

This is not the first time the authority has proposed its own treatment facility. A decade ago the authority proposed building a $68.4 million facility on the south side of the Newtown Bypass between Routes 413 and 532.

The location, however, met with stiff opposition from residents living at the nearby Crown Point development, and Newtown Township officials ended up voting it down.