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An inspection team from the Environmental Protection Agency made a surprise three-day inspection of the City of Lebanon Authority’s water system in early June, Authority board members learned Monday.
The inspection from June 3 through June 5 included tours of COLA’s water treatment plant in North Lebanon Township; Siegrist Dam in Pine Grove Township, Schuykill County; the Swatara Creek intake in Jonestown; and interconnections with PA American Water and Fort Indiantown Gap, said COLA Deputy Director Tom Deitzler said who met with inspectors.
“They said they were not here because of complaints, tips or concerns,” said Deitzler, adding that this was the first EPA inspection of COLA’s water facilities.
Officials of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) accompanied the EPA inspection team. DEP routinely inspects COLA facilities, said Jon Beers, COLA executive director.
COLA staff received an agenda a little more than a week prior to the inspection. Day 1 of the inspection involved an overview of COLA’s water system operations while days 2 and 3 involved ‘field activities’ or tours of COLA’s water treatment plant and distribution system, according to that agenda.
Among the questions inspectors asked was how long can COLA provide water should the system go offline (about 2-3 days), Deitzler said.
Also examined were overflow valves on water tanks and mesh covers to ensure animals cannot access the tanks.
“We think we had answers to all their questions,” Deitzler said.
COLA won’t learn what fixes if any are required for a couple of months. EPA indicated it will issue a report within 70 days of the closing meeting (Thursday, June 13) for the inspection.
“The inspector said the final report will be a narrative of what they observed, along with recommendations and documentation of any areas of concern,” Deitzler wrote in an email Tuesday.
In other business, Beers told the board he continues to negotiate with DEP on renewal of COLA’s water supply and water allocation permit and is optimistic an agreement will be reached soon. The permit to draw water from the Siegrist Reservoir and Swatara Creek expired in 2019.
DEP seeks additional drawdown from Siegrist Dam in order to maintain Swatara Creek levels downstream. But doing so would hurt COLA’s ability to supply water during drought conditions, Beers said.
“We have a good rapport with the state, and we’re getting close to an agreement,” Beers said.
Authority members also approved invoices of $682,200 for the upgrade of COLA’s wastewater treatment plant.
Read More: Lebanon Authority wastewater plant set to begin $22.8M of upgrades in April
Upgrades include renovating the headworks building—where large solids are separated from liquids—and replacing equipment installed when the plant first opened. The plant was last upgraded in 2011.
The City of Lebanon Authority Board meets at 2311 Ridgeview Road, Lebanon, on the second Monday of each month at 3 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, July 8. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.
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