Pine officials spearhead effort to manage storm water runoff

Shopping centers and housing plans in Pine need to gear up for some cleaning of storm water ponds and drains.

Leaders of about 70 homeowner associations and commercial properties can expect to get a letter this month from township officials as part of Pine's efforts to meet state mandates on how the township manages storm water runoff.

“It's a huge, unfunded mandate,” said Scott Anderson, manager of Pine Township. “It's very time-consuming.”

But failure to comply can lead to state fines. To avoid such consequences, Pine wants to verify the leaders of local home associations and commercial developments, and then request that they remove all debris or overgrowth from any storm water retention facilities on their properties. No deadline is being given.

“They're mostly ponds,” Anderson said about the facilities.

“If they're neglected, one of the biggest issues is ‘volunteer vegetation,'” Anderson said. “If a tree starts growing in the pond, that needs to be removed. The grass needs to be cut so we can see that there's no erosion, or animal burrows that would compromise the structure of the pond.”

Fallen trees, groundhog holes and overgrowth on holding pond embankments all can compromise a pond's ability to funnel storm water, as intended, into a nearby stream or gully.

If such runoff can't go into a stream or ravine, it then can infiltrate a public sewer system, which can result in untreated sewage ultimately going into rivers.

Anderson said the condition of Pine's approximately 140 storm water holding facilities ranges from “very good” to “very bad.”

Township employees inspected all the facilities last year and recorded any problems, Anderson said, and all will be re-inspected this year.

Anthony Barbarino, director of public works for Pine, suggested that homeowner associations consider organizing volunteers with mowers and trash bags to clean up the retention/detention or holding ponds in their housing plans.

Hiring a contractor to clean out a pond is another option.

Pine has budgeted about $75,000 this year to hire a contractor to address any problems with township-owned storm water holding ponds, Barbarino said.

The township-wide pond cleanups will help ensure the township's compliance with requirements by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to reduce pollutants discharged into U.S. streams and rivers.

“The EPA has told the states and various communities that they have to get storm water runoff under control,” said John Poister, DEP spokesman.

“We have so much storm water runoff that it goes into the sewers,” Poister said. “When we have a heavy rain storm, the amount of runoff is such that sewage treatment plants can't handle the flow. ... and raw sewage goes into waterways.

Like other municipalities across Pennsylvania, Pine now must comply with state mandates to maintain its state permit for its municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4 system) — a network of road drains, holding ponds and other conveyances for storm-water runoff within a given township or borough.

“Each year of the permit requires more and more oversight,” said Anderson, Pine's manager. “We're to the point where we're into the pond maintenance-inspection phase.”

Poister described Pine's plan to comply with state mandates on storm water runoff as “very progressive.”

Deborah Deasy is Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-772-6369 or ddeasy@tribweb.com.