Overbrook residents, PWSA clash over troubled sewer

Residents of Homehurst Avenue in Overbrook say the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has maintained their common sewer line for decades but now claims they are responsible for costly repairs that could exceed the value of their homes.

The Allegheny County Health Department in 2014 cited a dozen homeowners with violating department regulations after a backup sent raw sewage into the street.

Residents were given a choice: Replace the line or agree to share its future maintenance costs. They said PWSA estimated the replacement cost at $500,000 to $1 million, possibly more.

“I've got a $50,000 house down there, and they want me to pay $80,000 or $90,000 to put a sewer line in,” said Jim Rauber, 72. “They can have the house.”

Residents have appealed the department's citation but have been waiting for more than two years for a hearing. Department spokeswoman Melissa Wade said the department intends to schedule a hearing, but it had not done so as of Friday.

PWSA spokesman Brendan Schubert said authority records indicate the Homehurst sewer line is privately owned. He said PWSA maintains 1,250 miles of public sewer lines. Private owners maintain another 750 miles, which includes lines running from homes to a sewer main, he said.

Pittsburgh's Department of Public Works maintained city sewers before PWSA was created in 1999. Schubert said PWSA has no prior maintenance records for the Homehurst line.

“When (PWSA) was created, we didn't assume responsibility for all sewer lines,” Schubert said. “What we assumed responsibility for were publicly maintained sewer lines on record drawings that were turned over to us.”

Residents fear the sewer line will block up again and PWSA will refuse to fix it, leaving them stuck with the cost. They said their homes are in limbo until the dispute is resolved.

“Right now if something happened and we had to sell our house, we couldn't,” Rauber said.

Problems on Homehurst — where houses date to the 1920s — began in early 2014 when the sewer line backed up. PWSA unclogged the line, residents said, but balked when it backed up again later that year.

“They're trying to say we're private and we're not part of PWSA,” said Natalie Leon, 69. “How can that be possible? The city always serviced us. There was never a question of being part of the city.”

The authority eventually fixed the problem when raw sewage began running down the street. In October 2014, residents received the health department's citation.

“We just want (PWSA) to take responsibility for the line and quit asking us to absorb the cost of replacing it,” said resident Patti Schanck, 55.

City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak of Carrick, who represents Overbrook, said her office has been trying to resolve the problem for more than a year. Rudiak has asked the health department to dismiss the citation.

“There is no way — no way — that homeowners should have the burden of this cost,” she said.

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.