Torresdale residents
talk about the sewage

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Something has to be done to stop the flow of raw sewage from a city water main into the Poquessing Creek — nobody seems to disagree with that.
But many neighbors of the polluted area also think that the Philadelphia Water Department’s proposed solution is just about as bad as the problem, maybe worse.
The water department released details of its suggested fix for the first time last week at a meeting of the Friends of Poquessing Watershed. Dozens of residents of Torresdale and nearby communities engaged in a sometimes-heated debate with the city officials.
The environmental advocate group neither endorsed nor opposed the proposed 4.5 million-gallon water and sewage retention tank that would be buried alongside the creek on heavily wooded city park ground.
But many in the crowd seemed to have their minds already made up.
"Why don’t those folks up there build their own plant?" said one man, referring to suburban communities like Bensalem, Lower Southampton and Lower Moreland that pipe wastewater into Philadelphia for processing by the city’s Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant.
That suburban flow contributes to the volume in the problem pipeline, the Poquessing Interceptor, which runs below ground along its namesake creek on the Philadelphia side.
Though dedicated exclusively to carry wastewater from homes and commercial buildings, the 5-foot diameter pipe tends to back up with storm water during heavy rains. When that happens, flow ceases and a mixture of storm water and sewage cascades from a manhole adjacent to Holy Family University ground near the 4700 block of Grant Ave., down some rocks and into a tributary creek just upstream from the Poquessing.
One recent storm, the April 15 nor’easter, flooded the system and resulted in 20 million gallons of untreated sewage and storm water to be released, according to Joanne Dahme, the water department’s watersheds program manager.
Similar overflows occur six to 10 times a year, the city official claimed.
The overflows are illegal under the Clean Streams Law, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. As a result, the city and affected suburban municipalities must work toward a solution or face restriction on new construction in the impacted area.
During storms, the proposed retention tank would receive the overflow and store it until volume in the interceptor subsides. The water department has chosen park ground near Hegerman Street and St. Denis Drive in the Brookhaven section for the buried tank and an aboveground maintenance building. The project would cost an estimated $24 million.
The tank would be 300 feet long — about the length of a football field — and 100 feet wide. Dozens of mature, healthy trees would have to be removed. Dahme described the plan as conceptual.
Many area residents use the park for recreation. The woods also serve as a buffer between homes and Interstate 95. Brookwood neighbors say they have collected 1,000 signatures on a petition opposing use of the site.
"I played in those woods when I was a little girl and I want my son to be able to play down there," said Brookhaven resident Michelle Campbell.
Others fear that the proposed facility will smell and lower their property values, despite insistence otherwise by the water department.
"(The plan) has gone from an underground tank to an underground tank with a building on top of it," neighbor Chris Kiefer said skeptically.
Dahme also discussed the possibility of installing a parallel sewer alongside the Poquessing Interceptor system to share the volume.
In response to suggestions that the city cut off its connections with suburban communities, the water department official replied that the arrangements help protect the city’s water supply from upstream pollution and help offset city taxpayer burden for system maintenance.
"No matter what we do to clean up, if (the suburbs) are not doing the same, we’ll get that mess," said Dahme.
The city official added that Bensalem nonetheless is "looking at" building its own sewage plant or storage facility.
Another key factor in the issue is an ongoing debate in City Council over the suitability of the tank for a residential community. The water department has proposed similar facilities in other areas of the city.
City Council members Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.) and Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) have introduced a bill that would ban the tanks within 1,500 feet of residential districts. With testimony having been heard at two prior Rules Committee sessions, a vote on the bill is expected today (June 14). ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com