Apr 24, 2002 By Christine Haines 2 min read

BROWNSVILLE – The Brownsville Municipal Authority is continuing to hash out details of a consent agreement with the state Department of Environmental Resources. The most recent revised consent order changes the language regarding steps the authority must take to prevent flood damage until a new plant is constructed outside of the flood plain. The order sets limits for suspended solids and established penalties on a daily, weekly and monthly basis for violating those limits. Plant superintendent James Knisley said he reviewed the plant records for the past two and a half years, and the limits have never exceeded those set by the DEP.

The new version of the consent order also calls for monitoring the outflow from the plant. That would involve the installation of two flow monitors at a cost of approximately $5,000 each. The authority is seeking a waiver of that requirement.

“We don’t need to have another expense that’s not necessary for this old plant,” said authority chairman Fred Provance.

The authority is also still in negotiations with the Pennsylvania American Water Company. The water company has agreed to pay 38 cents a pound for treatment of sludge from the water purification plant, but does not want the charge to be retroactive to January 1, 2001. The past year’s fees for sludge treatment would come to just over $51,000.

Authority solicitor Ernie DeHaas noted that the authority would have been able to bill the water company earlier if the water company had provided flow information to the authority in a more timely fashion. Engineer Rusty Mechling said the sludge flow figures for the last quarter of 2001 just arrived at the municipal authority this month.

The water company is proposing a payment equal to about a quarter of what is being sought by the municipal authority.