Articles
New Treatment Plant Boosts Pennsylvania Township's Economy
December 29, 2009
•Case Study: New Treatment Plant Boosts Pennsylvania Township's Economy
By Caigan McKenzie
During the past forty years, Dunbar Township had been plagued with wildcat sewers, failing onsite septic systems, and one undersized, outmoded package plant. In the spring of 2003, the township opened the doors to its newly built, $8,772,900 wastewater treatment plant, a feat made possible with the help of a local firm.
Dunbar Township, located in an economically distressed pocket in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, has been under court order since the 1960s to "discontinue the discharge of sewage into the waters of the Commonwealth and to construct such sewage treatment works as may be necessary for the treatment of the sewage," according to Lewis Falton, authority administrator and treasurer for Dunbar Township Municipal Authority.
Foundation for Growth
Years ago, Dunbar Township was
a flourishing coal mining community.
People flocked to the area where beehive-
type ovens produced world-class
coke (a fuel made from coal). Eventually,
Dunbar Township fell victim to
the vanishing Pennsylvania coal industry
and went from economic
boom to economic bust. "The township
has never recovered from the
loss of the coal mines," Falton said.
NSFC STAFF WRITER
Caigan McKenzie
People with marketable skills continued
to leave the area, and new
businesses overlooked it in favor of
communities with an intact infrastructure.
"We work hard at attracting
jobs and development, and in
this day and age, any community
that doesn't have adequate sewage
treatment can simply forget about
attracting people—it just won't happen,"
Pennsylvania Congressman
John Murtha said.
•Case Study: New Treatment Plant Boosts Pennsylvania Township's Economy
