Limited Sewage Discharge Capacity Is A Burden On Local Economies

Cities across the world are realizing that sewage treatment can be crucial to attracting new businesses and creating jobs in their communities.

It’s a dilemma that has plagued the Poconos in Pennsylvania for some time. Chuck Leonard, executive director of the Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation, is tasked with attracting businesses to his region.

“We’ve received interest in food processing companies,” Leonard told the Pocono Record. “A large commercial bakery looked at us and even a hot dog producer was looking to build a facility here. We just didn’t have the sewage treatment capacity. The buildings have to be FDA compliant. We can meet those requirements, but providing them with adequate sewage disposal was a problem."

Some businesses don’t require large amounts of sewage processing, the Pocono Record reported, including businesses like assembly plants or regional distribution centers.

In the Poconos, the sewage treatment problem is a question of how to add discharge capacity in an area rich with high-quality streams and wetlands and the stringent regulations that come with them.

“Of course, that’s a good thing,” Leonard said of the regulations. “It requires us to be good stewards of our environment. But it does limit our ability on occasion to respond to a large sewage need in a discharge capacity. We have all the water we ever want; we just don’t have as much capability as other communities that aren’t subject to this special provision.”

To read similar stories visit Water Online’s Wastewater Management Solutions Center.