From the Sanatoga Post, April 10, 2018
A brass valve and indicator gauge that topped a large sewer main inside the station, in the 200 block of Porter Road, sheared off March 3 and quickly filled the floor of the Porter Road station with more than 20 inches deep of foul-smelling raw sewage.
SANATOGA PA – For its ability to respond to an emergency deemed above and beyond the normal call of duty, the Lower Pottsgrove Sewer Authority has donated $500 to the Sanatoga Fire Company. It’s a “thank you” for help company volunteers offered in dealing with a sewage pumping station breakdown that occurred during last month’s first-in-a-series of nor’easter winter storms.
A brass valve and indicator gauge that topped a large sewer main inside the station, in the 200 block of Porter Road, sheared off March 3 (2018; Saturday) and quickly filled the floor of the Porter Road station with more than 20 inches deep of foul-smelling raw sewage. Meanwhile, a blustery nor’easter wind accompanied by 3-6 inches of heavy wet snow raged outside and made travel conditions treacherous.
Despite the danger and the cold, volunteers manned fire company pumps and hoses and spent almost six removing the mess. They sprayed it onto an adjacent field to avoid polluting nearby Sprogels Run.
That kind of heroism deserves a reward, authority members agreed, as they voted to write a contribution check.
At least one of the four pumps damaged during the incident has been repaired and is working, township Manager Ed Wagner reported. The other three – two 200-horsepower models, and one of 60-horsepower – are still being fixed. The entire repair job is expected to cost more than $100,000, he estimated, and a claim has already been filed with Lower Pottsgrove’s insurers.
Employees of Lewis Environmental Services in Royersford were called in to sanitize the station and the surrounding area, Wagner added. Their work was completed before the township Board of Commissioners’ April 2 meeting, at which the pumping failure was again discussed. A report on the incident has been filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
