Oct 23, 2002 By Christine Haines 3 min read

BROWNSVILLE – The state Department of Environmental Protection still hasn’t told the Brownsville Municipal Authority how large its new treatment plant will have to be. Under a consent order to build a new treatment plant out of the flood plain, the authority must submit its new plant design by Nov. 15, but that design is contingent upon the DEP reviewing flow data to determine how large the plant must be. The authority’s engineer, Rusty Mechling, submitted the flow data in June. Just last month, a partial response was received from the DEP, asking for still more information, but still not clarifying the plant size that will be required.

The authority’s solicitor, Ernest DeHaas, had informed the DEP that a response was needed by August 15 in order for the engineers to meet the Nov. 15 design deadline.

“We know the size we think the plant should be, but we need to know that is a size the DEP will accept,” DeHaas said. “I think we’re covered on the Nov. 15 deadline. When they got the report in June, someone should have looked at the report in June.”

“They’re the ones dragging their feet, not us,” said Fred Provance, chairman of the authority. “They’re the ones holding things up.”

Although the Brownsville Municipal Authority has not been ordered to separate its sanitary sewers from local storm sewers, the DEP did ask for proof that the combined sewer along Water Street was intended to be a combined sewer. Mechling said smoke testing showed that every single inlet on the storm sewer line is connected to the sanitary sewer, showing it was originally constructed as a combined sewer, even though it is a smaller diameter than most combined sewers.

“We shouldn’t go any further until we meet with those people (the DEP) and get a firm response from them about what they want,” said authority member Henry Vulcan.

In other matters, the authority voted to increase the base rate for sewerage service from $14 a month to $14.50 a month effective January 1. A second 50 cent increase will go into effect six months later, taking the basic bill to $15 a month in July.

Plant manager James Knisley said dye testing has been completed in Hiller. Of the 275 homes tested, six had downspouts connected to the sewer system, which is not permitted. Knisley said smoke testing will now be done to see if there are any storm drains connected to the system. Hiller was the scene of flooding earlier this year, with sewer lines backing up into houses.