Raising a stink
The chairman of the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Sewer Authority isn't happy about an odor wafting through parts of the borough and nearby municipalities but expects it to dissipate soon.
Rob Luksis spoke at Monday's Canonsburg council meeting and contends that the smell originates at the North Strabane Township pump station.
"It came to our attention that the North Strabane Municipal Authority stopped treating their line, and in doing so, that's what's creating this smell," he said. "Unfortunately, our neighbors are not being neighborly right now."
The CHJSA plant on Curry Hill Road provides sewage services to North Strabane and other nearby communities.
Luksis said the pipes running from North Strabane into the line were "overbuilt" in anticipation of growth in the community.
"They oversized their lines," Luksis told the council. "Instead of using two 6-inch lines, they used two 12-inch lines in anticipation of all of this future growth. They didn't get the development as quickly as they anticipated. The sewage sits in the line until everybody wakes up in the morning and brushes their teeth and flushes their commodes, which pushes those lines out. That's what we're all smelling."
Council President Rich Russo said the odor can be detected at adjacent properties, such as the Southpointe Industrial Park and the row of eateries on McClelland Road.
"Occasionally, it goes across the creek into our commercial district," Russo said. "There's also a residential patch that is affected."
Jason Orsini, chairman of the North Strabane Municipal Authority, however, disagrees on the odor's source.
"That plant (CHJSA) is known for its odor," he said. "It is not caused by the North Strabane Municipal Authority pump station. The odor problem is from their biological treatment reactors. That's where the odor is coming from. They have a serious issue with how they're operating that facility. North Strabane is doing what they need to regarding chemical additions, but the odor is still going to exist down there. It's more of an operational issue."
According to a decree issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) about 15 years ago, North Strabane is to feed calcium nitrate into its system to eliminate the odor. The process costs $20,000 per month.
"This calcium nitrate is the secret sauce that they have to put into the line every day," Luksis said. "That's an expensive chemical. We are suffering through all of this stink because they want to save $20,000 a month."
Luksis said the North Strabane authority recently started treating the line again.
"They just started last week to treat it," he said. "The chemical is working. We're getting real close to being in compliance. We're holding their hand to the fire. We're measuring three times a day. Numbers are dropping dramatically. I would imagine the smell will be gone in the next 10 days to two weeks. I think we need to find a way to keep pursuing this, because I know there has been a major financial impact to this town because of the stink."
Orsini said recently that authority officials were unaware of the decree.
"We just found out about it, our engineer, our solicitor, our current manager," he said. "I guess over time, we took the chemical percentage down because it really didn't seem to have an effect on the (Canonsburg-Houston) plant.
Russo, who said DEP will be visiting North Strabane Nov. 12, is glad the issue is being addressed, but feels the borough's reputation has been unfairly sullied.
"They continue to pound us on social media," Russo said. "It's pretty impactful for us. It's working against what we're trying to do here in Canonsburg with the revitalization, the remodeling of the buildings and the downtown renaissance we're trying to promote."
