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Expanded office for program that helps low-income students attend college

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Our View: And now for some good news

<p>With four citizens in attendance Thursday, Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority officials presented updates to their proposed pollution reduction plan funded by a controversial new stormwater fee.</p><p>Interested fee payers who were unaware or unable to attend the session can review the 346-page plan and submit questions and comments through Sept. 27 by clicking on the banner that has been posted on the main page at <a href="https://www.wvsa.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.wvsa.org</a>.</p><p>The plan is required to obtain state Department of Environmental Protection permits needed to proceed with projects that fulfill a federal mandate to lower sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus in the Susquehanna River, and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay, within five years, officials said.</p><p>The authority will incorporate public feedback and its responses in an amended report submitted to DEP by Oct. 14, with optimism permits will be issued by mid-November, said authority Executive Director James Tomaine.</p><p>An increase in detention basin projects is the main difference from the initial plan released in 2017. These projects add plants and make other modifications to soak up nitrogen and phosphorus and trap sediment that can be periodically removed.</p><p>DEP wanted more basin projects throughout the region instead of focusing so heavily on the giant Toby Creek detention basin in Pringle, Tomaine said Thursday.</p><p>As a result, the following basin projects, new and retrofitted, have been added: four in Swoyersville on Townsend Avenue and Creek, Dana and Simpson streets; two in Jenkins Township on Main Street and at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension; and the Wyntree Oaks basin on East Saylor Avenue in Plains Township.</p><p>The credit the authority would receive for alterations to the Toby Creek basin also has been reduced from 3 million pounds of sediment reduction to 133,682 pounds, although a higher credit is possible if better results can be proven.</p><p>The authority&#8217;s new plan also provides more specifics about other proposed projects &#8212; rain gardens, stormwater parks and stream bank restoration to reduce sediment washed into waterways.</p><p>In total, more than 2.37 million pounds of sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen must be eliminated through the regional program, the plan said.</p><p>Thirty-two Wyoming Valley area municipalities signed up for the authority&#8217;s regional compliance plan funded by a fee on property owners based on the nonabsorbant impervious area within their parcels, although participant Lehman Township may remain in the program in a special agreement because it obtained a mandate waiver.</p><p>Street sweeping and catch basin cleaning and repairs also are a major part of the plan because they are estimated to capture 800,000 pounds of sediment annually, said authority stormwater division manager Jeff Colella.</p><p>To date, the authority swept 1,870 miles of roadways, cleaned 1,001 catch basins and repaired 51 catch basins, Colella said.</p><p>Only one woman spoke during the session to relay a friend&#8217;s concerns about a Wilkes-Barre catch basin that doesn&#8217;t drain properly in heavy rain.</p><p>Colella said he would investigate the basin and noted authority officials have met with representatives of the city and other participating municipalities to prioritize spots they want addressed.</p><p>Tomaine said some municipalities have neglected catch basins for decades due to a lack of funds, but they now have assistance from the authority to help get them cleaned.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority in Hanover Township </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL011219WVSA2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority in Hanover Township </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Stormwater fee projects plan gets update