Bill O’Boyle: Pa. invests $175.7M in water infrastructure projects statewide

Oct. 22—WILKES-BARRE — Gov. Josh Shapiro this week announced the investment of $175.7 million for 25 drinking water and wastewater projects across 16 counties through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST).

The projects include replacing lead pipes, rehabilitating aging water pumps, and reducing costs resulting from water loss.

"Pennsylvanians have a constitutional right to clean air and pure water," Shapiro said. "With these critical investments, we can rebuild our water infrastructure, create good-paying jobs, and guarantee that constitutional right holds for all Pennsylvania, regardless of their zip code."

The funding for these projects originates from a combination of state funds approved by voters, Growing Greener, Marcellus Legacy funds, the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, federal grants to PENNVEST from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and recycled loan repayments from previous PENNVEST funding awards.

These updates will Pennsylvania support communities as they address backlogged water system needs and help ensure high-quality drinking water for Pennsylvanians.

"The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act brings significant opportunity to Pennsylvania's water and sewer systems, facilitating its modernization and ensuring sustainable infrastructure," said PENNVEST Chairman Dr. Brian Regli.

A list of local project summaries follows:

Wastewater Projects

Luzerne County

—Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater, Inc. — received a $7.8 million loan to upgrade a wastewater treatment plant in the community of Laurel Lakes in Rice Township. The current system will be enhanced with a third treatment train and pumps to allow redundancy within the plant during maintenance. Other upgrades will take place in the plant's headworks, aeration tanks, tank covers, service platforms, walkways and railing systems. The project will provide continued reliable wastewater service to the community and allow for continued regulatory compliance.

—Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority — received a $19 million loan to rehabilitate 5,300 feet of an existing sanitary gravity interceptor with the installation of a new structural spiral-wound, polyvinyl chloride steel reinforced lining system. Additionally, 13 manholes along the interceptor will be enhanced with the installation of a multi-layer polymeric structural liner. This project will result in the continued functionality of a critical conveyance structure.

Wyoming County

—Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater, Inc. — received a $5.94 million loan to upgrade the Rivercrest wastewater treatment plant in Tunkhannock Township. The aging and deteriorated components in the current system to be repaired or replaced include the influent sampler, sludge holding tank, aeration blowers, and pH adjustment of the influent. To remain compliant with current standards, a de-chlorination process will also be incorporated into the plant. The project will provide continued reliable wastewater service to the community and allow for continued regulatory compliance.

Rep. Meuser co-sponsors bill to

protect Pennsylvanian's private property

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, this week co-sponsored H.R. 621 — the Preventing Auto Recycling Theft (PART) Act — to help protect Pennsylvanians from catalytic converter theft.

Meuser said the PART Act would help deter catalytic converter theft by setting strict federal penalties for stealing the auto part and would make the recycling of stolen property more difficult. Catalytic converters are required for compliance with federal emissions laws but are costly for car owners to replace once stolen.

This legislation comes in response to catalytic converters being stolen at increasingly higher rates due to their valuable metals, such as rhodium, platinum, and palladium.

Last year, Pennsylvania had the third highest rate of catalytic converters thefts in the country.

Catalytic converters are not currently readily traceable, as they are one of 18 vehicle parts not required to be marked with a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

The PART Act would require new vehicles to have a VIN stamped onto the converter to help law enforcement track stolen parts back to their owners and would establish converter thefts as a criminal offense.

The bill will also establish a grant program to help vehicle owners voluntarily stamp VINs and other identifiers onto existing catalytic converters at no cost.

"Catalytic converter theft has become a serious issue across the nation with Pennsylvania being no exception," Meuser said. "Nationally, catalytic converter thefts have increased 1,215% since 2019, and vehicle owners end up burdened with the cost of repairs and replacements. That's unacceptable, and we must defeat crime in our communities by empowering police and prosecuting thieves and other criminals to the fullest extent of the law. I'm happy to join this bipartisan effort to facilitate the collaboration of local law enforcement and auto dealers to end this unlawful behavior and protect private property."

H.R. 621 currently awaits further consideration in the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

PennDOT outlines preparations for

winter services, job opportunities

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield, and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) Chief Executive Officer Mark Compton this week held a media briefing to outline plans for winter services, highlight job opportunities, and discuss how the public can prepare for the season.

"The safety of every Pennsylvanian is a top priority of the Shapiro Administration. We've been preparing for this winter since the last one ended," Carroll said. "Across Pennsylvania, the team at PennDOT is hard at work fixing our roads, highways and bridges — making it easier and safer for Pennsylvania drivers while creating good paying jobs. Keeping our roads as safe as possible is a team effort, and we'd love to have people join our team."

The public can access travel information on nearly 40,000 state-maintained roadway miles year-round at www.511PA.com, and during the winter they can find plow-truck locations and details of when state-maintained roadways were last plowed.

The information is made possible by PennDOT's Automated Vehicle Location technology, which uses units in the over 2,600 department-owned and rented plow trucks to send a cellular signal showing a truck's location.

To help the public prepare for the season and share information about winter services, PennDOT offers operational information and traveler resources on its winter web page. The site also has a complete winter guide with detailed information about winter services in each of PennDOT's 11 engineering districts.

Each year, the PTC readies itself to confront the winter elements by properly preparing its entire fleet of trucks, plows and salt spreaders and training more than 425 licensed equipment operators so they are ready to activate 24/7 staffing this fall. Turnpike traffic and weather operations are also at the ready. The team's focus is to fully understand the conditions on the roadway and to keep the Turnpike system as free of snow and ice as possible.

"Fall has arrived in Pennsylvania, and that means that wintry weather is not far behind," Compton said. "With winter weather ahead, preparation, planning and coordination are crucial. The agencies here today have spent all year meticulously planning and preparing our crews and resources so that when the first snowflakes fall, we can properly deploy what is needed and where."

In discussing traffic safety, Carroll announced that PennDOT is adding 15 variable speed limit, or VSL, signs — which quickly reduce speed limits when visibility or roadway conditions call for lower speeds — bringing the statewide total to 78 locations, including seven in Luzerne County.

VSL signs quickly reduce speed limits when visibility or roadway conditions present the need for more cautious driving. Preliminary results show this solution effectively slowed traffic 4-9 mph during winter road conditions at the 63 locations last winter. Additionally, crashes decreased by an average by 22% on I-80 in Clearfield County last winter when compared to the previous five-year average.

With more than $197 million budgeted for this winter's statewide operations, PennDOT deploys about 4,700 on-the-road workers, has more than 700,000 tons of salt on hand across the state and will take salt deliveries throughout the winter.

PennDOT is actively seeking over 700 temporary equipment operators statewide for the winter season to supplement the department's full-time staff. Details on minimum requirements, such as possession of a CDL, as well as application information, are available at — www.employment.pa.gov.

"Road conditions during inclement winter weather can change very quickly, making it exceptionally important to have a reliable method of receiving timely updates about hazardous weather conditions," Padfield said.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.