The Township Authority Public Works Department oversees the sewage treatment plant located at the Public Works Facility at 675 West Main Street just west of town.

Members: 
Anthony Deaven, Secretary
Barry Ludwig, Treasurer
Hugh Rooney, Jr., Chairperson
Dustin Sider, Asst.Secretary/Asst. Treasurer

It’s all about the Chesapeake. This largest estuary in the country requires a steady supply of fresh water for the health and vitality of the many plants and animals–including people–that thrive or die there. The mighty Susquehanna supplies fifty percent of this water, and so conditions upstream affect the bay directly and dramatically. Three pollutants threaten this environment: silt/sediment from farmers’ fields and construction activity, nutrients from agriculture and sewage, and industrial toxins. Silt smothers oysters; nutrient-fed algae blooms suck oxygen from the water; chemicals poison plants and animals.

By the 1980s the bay had reached a tipping point and an effort to restore it got underway. The Chesapeake Bay Agreement (1987) was a path breaking achievement that established numeric goals to reduce pollution within set deadlines. Subsequent agreements have continued this practice. The most recent of these, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, signed on June 16, 2014, commits all headwater states to work to realize 10 goals and 31 outcomes by 2025.

When you’re washing your car in the driveway, remember you’re not just washing your car in the driveway.

When you wash your car on the street, the soap, scum, and oily residue flow along the curb, into storm drains, and directly into our lakes, streams, and coastal waters — including the Chesapeake Bay. This pollution harms fish and other aquatic life. The solution is simple: wash your car on grass or gravel so the water can soak into the ground, or even better, take it to a commercial car wash where the water is properly treated and recycled.

When your car’s leaking oil on the street, remember it’s not just leaking oil on the street.

When you wash your car on the street, the soap, scum, and oily residue flow along the curb, into storm drains, and directly into our lakes, streams, and coastal waters — including the Chesapeake Bay. This pollution harms fish and other aquatic life. The solution is simple: wash your car on grass or gravel so the water can soak into the ground, or even better, take it to a commercial car wash where the water is properly treated and recycled.

When you’re fertilizing the lawn, remember you’re not just fertilizing the lawn.

When you fertilize your lawn and it rains, the runoff carries fertilizer down the street, into storm drains, and eventually into our lakes, streams, and coastal waters — including the Chesapeake Bay. This runoff fuels algae growth, which depletes the oxygen fish and other aquatic life need to survive. To help protect our waterways, please follow fertilizer instructions carefully and use only as much as necessary.

When your pet goes on the lawn, remember it doesn’t just go on the lawn.

When you wash your car on the street, the soap, scum, and oily residue flow along the curb, into storm drains, and directly into our lakes, streams, and coastal waters — including the Chesapeake Bay. This pollution harms fish and other aquatic life. The solution is simple: wash your car on grass or gravel so the water can soak into the ground, or even better, take it to a commercial car wash where the water is properly treated and recycled.

The construction industry has a key role to play in storm water management. As storm water flows over a construction site, it can pick up pollutants such as sediment, debris, and chemicals. Uncontrolled erosion can have a significant financial impact on a construction project. It costs time and money to repair gullies, replace vegetation, clean sediment clogged storm drains, and mitigate damage to other people’s property. At a construction site, it is important to protect the natural features by:

1. Minimizing the amount of exposed soil, because the less soil that is exposed the easier and cheaper it will be to control erosion.
2. Identify and protect areas where existing vegetation such as trees will not be disturbed by construction activity.
3. Protect streams, wild woodlands, wetlands, and other sensitive areas from any disturbance or construction activity by fencing or otherwise clearly marking those areas.

Silt fencing

1. Inspect and maintain silt fences after each rainstorm.
2. Make sure the bottom of the silt fence is buried in the ground.
3. Securely attach the material to the stakes.

Construction entrances

1. Make sure the construction entrance doesn’t become buried in soil.
2. Regular street sweeping at construction entrance will prevent dirt from entering storm drains.

Installing and maintaining pollution prevention techniques on site can reduce the potential for storm water pollution and help protect our nation’s water supply.