City Council overrides
veto on sewage tank bill

City Council on Sept. 27 voted unanimously to override a mayoral veto of a bill aimed at preventing the Philadelphia Water Department from installing a multimillion-gallon sewage tank near a Northeast residential neighborhood.
The ordinance ensures that the water department will have to employ an alternative plan to manage the overflow of sewage-contaminated water into the Poquessing Creek during heavy storms. The department has already proposed a new plan to install additional water mains underneath State Road, south of Grant Avenue.
City Councilman Brian O’Neill, who sponsored the bill along with Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, learned of Mayor John Street’s veto when he arrived for the first Council session of the fall on Sept. 20.
Council had passed the bill initially on June 14 by another unanimous vote. It overrode the veto despite objections from Water Commissioner Bernard Brunwasser, who said that the law may compromise the city’s ability to comply with federal environmental guidelines.
Street expressed similar concern in justifying his veto.
The public learned last spring of the water department’s plan to install a 4.25-million-gallon underground tank in a wooded city park near Hegerman Street and St. Denis Drive in the Brookhaven section of East Torresdale. The site is in Republican O’Neill’s 10th district and borders Democrat Krajewski’s 6th district.
Neighbors objected to the tank immediately, fearful of foul odors, decreased property values and destruction of park ground. Thousands signed a petition against the tank, community leaders claim. The East Torresdale Civic Association voted to oppose a tank at any of several sites proposed by the water department.
Water department officials insisted that a tank would have no negative impact on nearby homes.
O’Neill’s ordinance prohibits sewage overflow tanks within 1,500 feet of residentially zoned areas in O’Neill’s and Krajewski’s districts.
After Council passed the bill, water department officials announced an alternative plan to run new pipes essentially parallel with existing mains along State Road, thereby adding capacity to the sewer system.
O’Neill said he would be willing to introduce a bill rescinding the sewage tank restrictions once work on the alternative plan has begun.
The water department has not announced a construction schedule for the State Road work. ••