City of Lebanon Authority seeks customers for water testing

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The City of Lebanon Authority (CoLA) may begin knocking on doors in an effort to sign up at least seven more customers with suspected lead service lines for water testing this summer.

CoLA must determine whether lead shows up in water from 35 customers with suspected lead service lines. So far, only 28 customers have agreed to provide samples, the board learned Monday.

“We sent letters to 156 customers who we think have a very high probability of having lead service lines,” Jon Beers, CoLA executive director, told the board.

Testing is required to confirm the presence or absence of lead.

Lead pipes have been known to leach lead particles into drinking water, causing health problems for children, pregnant women and adults with compromised health. The effects of lead poisoning are not reversible.

While CoLA has tested service lines for lead previously, this year’s testing is targeted to properties either with confirmed or suspected lead service lines.

Read More: City of Lebanon Authority sends letters about possible lead service lines

To date, no issues with lead in CoLA drinking water have been found, Beers has said previously.

In other business, the board approved new surcharges for the four businesses that contribute higher concentrations of organic and inorganic matter to the waste stream than residential users. Those businesses are the Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority, Godshall’s Quality Meats, Murry’s, and Dean Foods.

The new rates, which decreased from those approved in 2024, are based on the per-pound costs of treating four waste products: total phosphorous, biochemical oxygen demand (or BOD, the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria to reduce waste), total suspended solids (or materials that take longer to break down) and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (organic nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen).

Last year, CoLA received slightly less than $1 million from these four industries from the high strength waste surcharge, said Tom Deitzler, CoLA deputy director.

In a related matter, Deitzler told the board that Scout Cold Storage, 2750 Hanford Road, has bought 302 EDUs of water capacity for $694,600. An EDU of water capacity is 160 gallons per day.

Scout Cold Storage is home to MBC Companies, one of which is Murry’s. The additional water is needed as Murry’s ramps up production of breakfast sandwiches to 30,000 per hour, said Brian Di Scuillo, water systems director.

In other business, the board approved payment of several invoices related to upgrades to the authority’s wastewater treatment plant:

• Pact Two LLC (general) – $1,708,886;
• Garden Spot Mechanical (plumbing) – $21,870;
• Garden Spot Mechanical (HVAC) – $22,074;
• Garden Spot Electric – $30,600.

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, May 12. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.