UPDATE: Snyder County sewer pipe replacement scheduled, additional spill possible | News

SELINSGROVE – Replacing a broken pipe at the Eastern Snyder County Regional Authority (ESCRA) wastewater treatment plant in Penn Township this week could release more raw sewage into the Susquehanna River.

“There is a possibility that additional wastewater may be temporarily released during the repair process,” Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Megan Lehman said of the work scheduled to begin today.

ESCRA officials were notified around 6 a.m. Sunday that the 20-inch water main had ruptured, spilling wastewater into Penns Creek, which flows into Middle Creek and the Susquehanna River, at the Isle of Man plant Que an alarm has been triggered.

According to Lehman, an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 gallons of wastewater flow through the pipe daily.

ESCRA installed a circumferential collar at the break, a temporary repair that stopped the discharge of wastewater, around 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening. It is not certain how much wastewater was discharged into the waterways because the exact timing of the disruption is not known, she said.

The public drinking water supply is safe and can continue to be used. Drinking water systems downstream of the incident have been notified, but there are no surface water intakes for public drinking water in the affected area, Lehman said.

“The nearest public intake downstream is in Dauphin County, which is beyond the 20 mile range. To DEP’s knowledge, no private water facilities were impacted,” she said.

During the socket installation, Lehman said, ESCRA employees discovered that the nearly 50-year-old ductile iron pipe was in “very poor condition” at the time of the rupture.

The agency, which serves Selinsgrove and Shamokin Dam districts and Monroe and Penn townships, plans to work with a consultant to conduct a longer-term repair of the entire stretch of trail, she said.

The public is asked to avoid contact with the river and affected streams at and for 20 miles below the pipe break “until further notice,” Lehman said.

As repairs are being performed between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. today, the southbound Route 11 exit to Route 35 will be closed. During the work, there will be a detour via southbound Route 11 to Aqueduct Road and northbound Route 11 to Route 35.