North Sewickley Township Supervisors in hot water with DEP

NORTH SEWICKLEY TWP. -- A month after rescinding a motion made in 2010, the North Sewickley Township Supervisors are now in hot water with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

On Tuesday, Supervisors Philip Dent, chairman, Emmett Santillo and Linda Brown received strongly worded letters from the DEP, sent via e-mail with registered mail copies on the way, criticizing the action the board took in April to derail a proposed Phase III for a township sewer project.

The DEP gave them two weeks from Tuesday to respond, and at a supervisors meeting Tuesday, solicitor Ryan Long recommended that they respond as soon as possible.

Long said the DEP has enforcement powers, which include requiring that the project go forward, assessing fines to the township and fining individual supervisors. Long said the request-for-action process was not that far along, but the DEP letter was powerfully worded, which was probably because supervisors rescinded board action on Nov. 9, 2010, giving the township sewer authority permission to begin planning the third phase of a township sewer project.

In April, Dent and Santillo approved rescinding the 2010 action while Brown voted against the move. That vote also caused a rift that ousted Brown as supervisors chairwoman and put Dent in the position of leading the board.

Long said he would write the DEP by the end of the week and request a meeting with the DEP as well as members of the township sewer authority.

Santillo said he wanted his reasoning for rescinding the 2010 motion to be included in the response to the DEP. He said he was not against sewer projects in the township but that he wanted to know what it would cost to complete the sewer project for the entire township. He said he didnt want the project to continue to a possible Phase IV or beyond.

Brown said a study to include the entire township in the project would take years, to which Santillo responded, Weve been working on this for 20 years.

Brown cautioned her fellow supervisors, saying there would be repercussions for their action. She also read the DEPs letter aloud, despite Dents opposition.

The DEP letter said there are malfunctioning septic systems in the area of the proposed Phase III, which includes Harpers Ferry Road, Wises Grove Road and Glendale Road. The proposed project was also to address some repairs at the Eastvale sewage-treatment plant.

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North Sewickley Township Supervisors in hot water with DEP