East Torresdale: Residents, university
upset with planned sewage tank

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

When East Torresdale residents discovered that the city was considering installing a multimillion-gallon sewage storage tank at a local public park, they were shocked and angry.
Likewise, officials at Holy Family University weren’t necessarily thrilled to learn that the city had instead settled on using some ground behind its Far Northeast campus for the project.
They have yet to learn full details of the plan. The city-owned site is near Stevenson Lane and Hegerman Street, just off-campus and alongside the Poquessing Creek.
A Philadelphia Water Department spokeswoman has told the Northeast Times that the project could be two or three years in development and another two years in construction.
"The water department has just shared some of the details of that (project) with the university, as recently as late last week," said Peter Tantala, an architectural engineer retained by Holy Family, during the monthly meeting of the East Torresdale Civic Association on March 12.
Holy Family anticipates further discussions with the city.
The correspondence described by Tantala would have coincided with inquiries about the project submitted to the water department by the Northeast Times. The paper most recently reported on the sewage-tank project in its March 8 editions.
Tantala acknowledged that Holy Family is "ground zero" for a sewage-overflow problem plaguing the city water utility.
Sometimes, often after heavy rains, underground wastewater pipes fill and get backed up. That is, there’s too much water for the pipes to carry or too much for the city’s treatment plants to process.
As a result, those familiar with the problem say, raw sewage rises to the surface, emerging from sewer inlets. The waste smells badly and is a health concern.
"They’ve presented us with this problem for several years now," Tantala said.
The planned storage tank is intended to hold overflow sewage until water volume subsides and it can be duly processed. Contrary to prior reports in the Times, a water-treatment plant at State Road and Pennypack Street in the Northeast is not for sewage. It’s for "fresh" water — that is, stormwater.
The closest wastewater plant — which handles sewage from homes and other buildings — is in Port Richmond.
Holy Family recently bought wooded ground near the planned tank site on the opposite side of Poquessing Creek in Bucks County, Tantala said. The college can’t build on the newly acquired ground because it is mostly in the flood plain, according to the engineer. The college wants to ensure that others don’t try to build there either.
Holy Family has construction planned elsewhere for its Northeast Philadelphia campus, as does neighboring Nazareth Academy High School. Nazareth Academy Grade School recently completed its own expansion project.
The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth operate all three educational institutions.
Many neighbors aren’t sold on the college’s intentions to build a new five-story residence hall and a four-story, 475-space parking garage.
Holy Family has met with neighborhood representatives repeatedly over many months to work out agreeable details for the dorm and garage.
Initially proposed for the center of the campus, the dorm is now planned for the rear of it, on the present site of a softball field.
It would add 350 student resident units to the campus over three phases. The site is also close to the Stevenson Lane and Hegerman Street intersection.
The parking garage would occupy a sloping area near the rear property lines of homes on nearby Carteret Drive.
Two existing campus buildings, Lourdes Hall and Aquinas Hall, would be demolished to create temporary parking for construction vehicles.
While the college is looking to start the first phase of the dorm, with 140 beds, in the short term, future phases and the parking garage are likely five or six years off, Tantala said.
Meanwhile, the high school could build its new performing-arts center, including a 600-seat auditorium, within two to three years, the engineer said.
Neighbors are concerned about the schools cutting down trees and hurting the natural environment for the neighborhood, as well as traffic primarily on Frankford and Grant avenues.
Others are concerned about safety issues arising from campus overcrowding. Tantala said that the college plans to widen Stevenson Lane — the former city street that bisects campus — to accommodate more cars and emergency vehicles.
The East Torresdale Civic Association plans to host a Philadelphia Water Department official at its next general meeting to discuss the sewage-tank project and other water issues.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, April 9, at Liberty Evangelical Free Church, Linden Avenue and Milnor Street. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com