Harmar officials to seek DEP's help in finding buried manhole

The Harmar supervisors are calling on the state Department of Environmental Protection to help them uncover a buried manhole.

The manhole in question is near the Allegheny Valley Joint Sewage Authority treatment plant. It’s on a narrow but long stretch of land between the railroad tracks and Freeport Road, according to Matt Pitsch, township engineer.

Pitsch said there are mounds of earth on the land, the byproduct of excavation for the construction of the sewage plant expansion.

That has township officials worried because somewhere under those mounds of fill is a manhole that repair crews have to be able to access in case of a problem or emergency with the gravity flow sewer line in that area.

But Pitsch said the contractor is questioning whether the manhole is even there.

“If something should happen between that manhole and the treatment plant, then our next access point would be on Freeport Road,” Pitsch said. “That manhole should not be covered, because it carries all the sewage south of the (Hulton) bridge.”

The contractor, Mele & Mele & Sons Inc., did not return calls for comment.

Should a collapse or blockage occur, Pitsch said, the township would have to disrupt traffic on Freeport Road to access the line.

According to Pitsch, he contacted officials with Mele and KLH Engineers, which is doing the engineering for it.

He said the contractor reportedly planned to spread the fill around the property but postponed that because of a small garage located there. It was supposed to be demolished to allow for the soil to be redistributed but since has been used as a temporary office or storage facility.

Pitsch said the contractor agreed to bring in someone to run a camera through the line to help determine where the manhole is. That hasn’t happened, and Pitsch said he received an email from the contractor Wednesday asking for more information about the manhole. He said the tone of the email was questioning the manhole’s existence.

“I replied and told them it is an active manhole, and, if they popped it open, they could see it flowing and that we’re not making this up,” Pitsch said.

“I would like to see you contact DEP and see what they can do,” supervisors Chairman Bob Seibert told Pitsch. “When you contact DEP, that usually gets the contractor’s attention.”

The other supervisors agreed.

Seibert said the township would not allow the same situation if an ordinary resident did it.

“I think DEP should know about it,” Seibert said. “It helps us in our position on who is going to cover the cost if there is an emergency.”

“I think it’s absurd to bury a manhole. And then, if there is a clog in the line, it would prevent us from having the immediate response we should have.”

Also, Pitsch said there is some doubt about whether the fill will be left as it is now or whether it will be redistributed. He said one person involved with the project said it would be redistributed while another person said it will be left as it is.

“We can’t get a straight answer,” Pitsch said. “It still needs to be located if the soil is redistributed to make sure that it’s accessible. That’s all we care about, that it’s accessible.”