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Politics & Government

Council Response to Sewer Situation Stinks

Pine Street residents are unhappy with Emmaus Borough Council's reaction to their concerns about their neighborhood's sewer problems.

Two Pine Street residents said that it’s more than the sewage backing up in their homes that stinks, following Tuesday night’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting. They felt that council’s response to their plight was pretty lousy too.

Joan Wildman and Penny Schaffer, both of Pine Street, addressed council during the public comment portion of the meeting about a sewage problem in their neighborhood. 

Wildman did most of the talking, sharing her experience of sewage backing up into her home. Her main question for council was whether the borough's sewage system, which dates back to 1963, is equipped to handle the amount of waste that travels through it. 

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According to Wildman, she has lived through sewage back-ups on three separate occasions in the past 13 years. Heavy rains don’t help and right now, she says about 1/3 of her home is unusable.

When her house was built in 1963, and the borough sewer system was installed, the pipes were in compliance with regulations in effect at that time. But, Wildman points out, population and use has increased considerably since then, and she questions whether what were acceptable guidelines in the 1960s may no longer be viable today.

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Council member R. Erick Reinhard suggested that Wildman look into an endorsement for her homeowner’s insurance. Wildman said she already has one and that it only covered one-third of her most-recent damages.

When Reinhard suggested she up the endorsement, Wildman said she can not get a higher one because of the number of times she has had sewage back up into her home.

Council member and public works committee chair Brent Labenberg told Wildman that he will bring her situation up at the next public works meeting on October 6 and encouraged Wildman and Schaffer to attend that meeting.

Following the council meeting, both Wildman and Schaffer said they were dissatisfied with the results of the discussion. Wildman expected council to be more pro-active regarding her situation and said that she will be doing some of her own research to investigate the matter further.

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