Luzerne County’s $2 million American Rescue allocation will help address more than century-old sewage line | Dallas Post

One of Luzerne County’s top American Rescue Plan allocations to an outside entity — $2 million — will help fund work that is not visible above ground but impacts thousands of residential properties and hundreds of businesses, said Hanover Township/Ashley Manager Samuel T. Guesto Jr.

The infrastructure that will be addressed is a more than century-old, clay tile sewage pipe known as the Solomon Creek Interceptor. It mostly follows and crosses the creek for 3.5 miles and services some of the newer development around the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township, including the Arena Hub Plaza and Target, and much of Hanover Township and Ashley, he said.

“It’s not a sexy project, but it’s very important,” Guesto said. “People don’t think about what’s underground and sewage unless it backs up in their basement.”

Pipe deterioration has resulted in some significant accumulation of debris, including grease, grit, manhole bricks and dislodged clay tiles along the line that discharges at the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, Guesto said.

Excavating down as much as 30 feet and replacing the pipe is not feasible due to the estimated cost of $10.7 million, he said.

Instead, a more affordable “cured in place” pipe lining technique is being used, Guesto said.

With this approach, a flexible liner is placed inside the existing pipe, inflated and exposed to heat so it dries and hardens to form a smooth surface. This lining increases pipe capacity by reducing friction and infiltration, he said. It also has structural strength that does not rely on the original pipe, he said.

Guesto keeps a sample of a cured liner in his office to illustrate its durability, saying the product has a 50- to 75-year life span.

“It’s like a new pipe,” he said. “Otherwise we would have to dig it all up.”

So far, approximately $1.5 million in state funding has covered the cost to clean and line a section from the sanitary authority to Fellows Avenue in Hanover Township, which includes camera scoping of the pipe, he said.

Lining the rest will cost an estimated $6 million, said Guesto, who stressed that is millions of dollars less than the replacement option.

While $6 million in county American Rescue funding was requested, county council imposed caps so it could collectively award $55 million to 113 outside nonprofits, businesses, municipalities and municipal authorities a year ago. The highest cap was $2 million for municipalities and municipal authorities. Twelve entities ended up receiving $2 million awards — most to address stormwater or sewage-related issues.

Ashley submitted the Solomon Creek Interceptor application because it is serviced by the line. Hanover Township owns the line but has funding assistance agreements in place with Wilkes-Barre Township and Ashley.

Because the current project must be scaled back to fall within the $2 million county allocation, it will focus on inspecting and assessing all piping using a mix of cameras and sonar, repairing all manholes, removing debris and installing lining in the most severely damaged sections, Guesto said.

Guesto said some of the manholes and line are actually in the creek, exposing them to more wear from the water flow and causing water infiltration in the line during high water events. This infiltration sometimes overwhelms the system, flooding streets downstream, he said.

“We will do the worst parts and then every year apply for state grants hoping to do more,” Guesto said.

Data from the county-funded inspection will be instrumental to secure future grants for more pipe lining, he said.

He is hoping cameras will be in the pipes in coming weeks.

“This is a great project,” Guesto said of the American Rescue-funded phase. “We’re doing this so the sewage won’t be in anyone’s basement.”

The need to address the interceptor became clear in 1999, when crews in Hanover Township addressed a blockage that had caused sewage and stormwater to enter some basements, according to a past published report. Using shovels and a truck-sized vacuum, they opened up manholes to remove silt, trash and balls of tree roots.

In 2016, grease, sludge and other debris had to be removed when approximately 18 residences had sewage backup, prompting a review of the entire system that launched the project now under completion, Guesto said.

Guesto said the township works closely with the sanitary authority to regularly flush out the lines.

When completed, the pipe lining project should make the interceptor more efficient and increase its capacity to accommodate new development, Guesto said.

Under current restrictions, proposed new development must be denied access when the line is at 85% capacity, he said.

“Last we checked, we were at 80% capacity,” he said.