The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA) has placed 13 municipalities on notice — they must present the authority with the status of development projects and corrective plans for sewer infrastructure repairs or face a potential moratorium on construction. The letter was sent to Bensalem, Langhorne and Middletown — where the sewer system is owned and operated by the BCWSA — and also to Bristol Township, Falls, Hulmeville, Langhorne Manor, Lower Makefield, Lower Southampton, Newtown Borough, Newtown Township, Northampton and Penndel — who own the sewer pipes that connect to BCWSA. Old sewer systems cause problems during heavy storms when rainwater seeps into cracked and broken sewer lines, sending more water than normal into the BCWSA Neshaminy Interceptor, a large sewer main that takes sewage from Bucks County to a Philadelphia treatment facility. The extra water increases treatment costs. The warnings were sent to the boroughs and townships that did not fully respond to a July 18 request from the BCWSA for information on developments and how the municipalities were implementing a corrective action plan (CAP) to fix aging sewer pipes. A statement from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also puts municipalities on notice, "As it stands currently, BCWSA needs to make a determination about whether or not the Neshaminy Interceptor has sufficient capacity remaining to accommodate the projected new flow. There will be increased attention to the municipalities’ performance with sewer maintenance work (also called ‘I&I abatement’), and to the actual metered flow, particularly the rate of flow during critical conditions when the interceptor is flowing full." An offer to purchase the BCWSA sewer system for $1.1 billion by Aqua Pennsylvania was turned down by county officials. Aqua had offered to fix some municipal sewer lines as part of the deal, something the municipalities must now pay for on their own.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 1/18/2024