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Allentown faces fines for violations at treatment plant

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ALLENTOWN – The borough is being hit with a $154,000 fine from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as the result of ongoing violations at its waste water treatment plant on Breza Road.

Mayor Greg Westfall announced the fine during the March 13 meeting of the Borough Council and said the penalty is due to years of neglect. He said the fine will be paid from the 2018 sewer utility budget.

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The violation cited by the DEP specifically relates to the level of nitrogen/ammonia in water that is being discharged from the plant into Doctor’s Creek. The level of nitrogen/ammonia exceeds DEP standards, according to the mayor.

According to information provided by the borough, monitoring reports from October 2011 through February 2018 indicated “serious violations and significant noncomplier violations” predominantly relating to the discharge of nitrogen/ammonia in excess of DEP permit limitations.

Municipal officials said Allentown will not be able to comply with the DEP standards until an upgrade to the treatment plant has been completed.

Officials are planning for the construction of a new waste water treatment plant. During the March 13 meeting, council members said the new facility could be operational by September 2019, which is about 15 months after an initial projected completion date of June 2018.

“The Administrative Consent Order with the DEP is what is pushing us forward” with the new treatment plant, Westfall said. “It will force us to adhere to a timetable. The treatment plant has been neglected for years.”

Councilman Rob Schmitt described the treatment plant as “broken and barely functioning” and said, “This governing body and its previous incarnation worked diligently and with a strong sense of urgency to fix the problems there and the DEP was/is working with us and advising us.

“But over time, the fines are inevitable because the plant deteriorates while at the same time, the DEP’s water standards rise. Delays, for whatever reason, and avoidable or not, as in our case, become costly in the regulatory sense and in the actual running of the facility,” Schmitt said.

According to borough officials, Allentown and the DEP are proposing to enter into an Administrative Consent Order “which will provide a relaxed interim enforcement effluent limitation for nitrogen/ammonia discharged from the waste water treatment plant.”

The proposed order will require Allentown officials to award a contract for the upgrade of the treatment plant by July 1; issue a notice to proceed to the winning bidder by Sept. 1; complete construction of the upgraded treatment plant by June 1, 2019; and submit a complete water quality management form to the DEP by July 1, 2019.

In other business on March 13, the council:

• Appointed Edward J. Dallas to the Historic Preservation Review Commission;

• Introduced an ordinance dealing with the protection of trees and set March 27 as the date for a public hearing;

• Introduced an ordinance regarding property maintenance and set March 27 as the date for a public hearing. The ordinance proposes the adoption of the International Property Maintenance Code;

• Introduced an ordinance having to do with zoning fees and housing fees and set April 24 as the date for a public hearing.

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