PRESTON COUNTY NEWS & JOURNAL
Rowlesburg discusses need for sewer upgrade with residents
by Theresa Marthey STAFF WRITER, WV News, March 15, 2019
In October 2016, Friends of the Cheat Executive Director Amanda Pitzer takes a closer look at what the state Department of Environmental Protection said is an unpermitted sewer pipe in Rowlesburg. The town has begun the process of addressing problems with its sewage system.
The town of Rowlesburg placed this sign near the Rowlesburg Community Park where a pipe discharges sewage into the Cheat River.
Rowlesburg Mayor Eric Bautista, left, sits next to council members Eric Baumgardner and Delores Riggs during a sewer informational meeting Monday.
Thrasher Engineering engineer Ashley Reed shares information about the Rowlesburg sewer project with those in attendance at a meeting Monday.
ROWLESBURG — Raw sewage discharging into the Cheat River after rain and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection violations were just two of the reasons given for the town of Rowlesburg to pursue upgrading its sewage treatment facility.
At an informational meeting Monday, town council and Thrasher Engineering representatives described how deep the problem is.
“We want to educate the public on the situation the town is in and why,” Thrasher engineer Ashley Reed said.
Mayor Eric Bautista told the crowd of about 15 people that the town has been receiving notices from the DEP, and something needs to be done sooner rather than later.
“In 2016, we received a $200,000 fine from the DEP for violations,” Bautista said. “Fortunately, with the help of an attorney who specializes in this type of violation, it was reduced to $2,500.” Bautista said he’s been asked why the town doesn’t just keep hiring an attorney to talk down the fine.
“The bottom line is there will come a time when the DEP says no more breaks, and we are fined $400,000,” Bautista said. “We can’t afford that. We have to fix it — or sign the town over to the DEP.”
Reed said with the decrease in the 2016 fine, the town was also given a consent order by the DEP requiring an effort to move forward to fix the problems with the system. “First, we have to modify the sewage permit because it is classified as a sanitary sewer overflow releasing raw sewage to the system,” Reed said. “We are working toward changing the town’s permit with the DEP to be recognized as a CSO system.”
CSO is short for Combined Sewer Overflows. These systems were constructed with sanitary sewer collection systems that carried both wastewater and storm water in the same pipes.
“We will begin long-term control plans that will outline future projects to fix the system over the next 40 years of ideas to correct the system,” Reed said. “Modifying the permit will cost.”
After the town receives the approval from the DEP to recognize their system as a CSO, they can move toward deciding on which projects they want to work on first to begin fixing the system. “We could work the larger projects or smaller projects in the plan first,” Reed said. “It would be up to the town.”
Bautista said there will be rate increases, although the town will try to keep them at a minimum. “We are probably going to have to raise sewer rates,” he said. “Thrasher was telling us it doesn’t have to be all at once. It could be one or two dollars a month.”
Friends of the Cheat Director Amanda Pitzer applauded the town for addressing the problem and offered her group’s assistance.
The council also had their regular meeting following the special meeting. They had the second reading of the trash and vacant building ordinances. Those now go onto the third reading and signing into law at the next meeting.
The council also announced it is in the beginning stages of planning a spring clean-up day for the town with details to be announced.
Staff Writer Theresa Marthey can be reached at (304) 276-1127 or by email at tmarthey@prestonnj.com.
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