Montage Mountain Resorts files second lawsuit against Pennsylvania American Water over plastic pellets in reservoir

Jim Lockwood, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·4 min read

Jun. 7—Montage Mountain Resorts wants a court to require Pennsylvania American Water to remove small plastic pellets from a reservoir used for snow-making on ski slopes.

A May 27 lawsuit filed by the resort in Lackawanna County Court seeks a court order compelling the water company to clean the reservoir and its feeder brook of water-filtration pellets that the resort says clog snow guns.

It's the second lawsuit in five months by the resort against the water company over the pellet issue.

The resort first sued the water company Dec. 28 for $34 million in damages, claiming large quantities of the water-filtration pellets spilled from the utility's water treatment plant upstream at Lake Scranton into Stafford Meadow Brook and the PA-5 Reservoir.

In the first lawsuit, which is pending in county court, the water company filed responses in February and March denying the resort's allegations.

The second lawsuit cites one count of a violation of the state's Clean Streams Law. This suit claims the resort notified the state Department of Environmental Protection on Jan. 21 about the pellets constituting nonpermitted industrial waste or pollution in the brook and reservoir. But the DEP did not take any enforcement action within 60 days of notice by the resort, and Montage now can seek a court judgment under the Clean Streams Law ordering PAW to remediate the pollution, the second lawsuit claims.

"It is apparent that unless and until PAWC (Pennsylvania American Water) is compelled to fully and adequately remediate its discharge, it will not do so," the second lawsuit says.

PAW spokeswoman Susan Turcmanovich said the water company does not comment on litigation.

The water company previously said the pellets are used as filtration clarifiers at the Lake Scranton Water Treatment Plant. The buoyant beads are made of NSF-certified (safe for use in drinking water) linear low density polyethylene (plastic) resin, and drinking water is not affected and remains safe, according to the water company.

The DEP is not a defendant in either lawsuit.

DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said a probe of the pellets by the agency has been ongoing.

"The DEP is still investigating the pellet incident. No decision has been made yet on what, if any, type of action could be taken against" the water company, Connolly said in an email.

Connolly provided letters DEP sent to the water company on March 10 and May 10 that refer to the incident as an "unpermitted discharge."

According to the March 10 letter, on Jan. 4, 2020, PAW reported to DEP via phone that a limited amount of pellets spilled from the treatment plant and were being vacuumed up that day; PAW had not provided to DEP a required written submission of the unpermitted discharge within five days; and DEP on March 10 sought more information, including date, duration, cause and amount of the pellet discharge, and cleanup efforts.

According to the May 10 letter: PAW replied on April 5, saying pellets spilled with backwash water into the brook through holes in a clarifier retaining screen; cleanup began immediately and continued through March 13, 2020; and the screen was repaired. DEP inspected the stream and reservoir on March 9, 2021, and March 11, 2021, respectively, and found pellets in the waterways "and continuing to the confluence of the Lackawanna River." The DEP asked for a detailed cleanup plan and timeline.

The water company now has until June 15 to respond to the DEP, Connolly said.

The resort pumps water from the reservoir and pipes it up the mountain to feed a snowmaking system with over 302 snowguns. The pellets, about the size of split peas, gum up a pumphouse and the entire snowmaking system, according to both lawsuits.

The water company knew about the spill of the pellets from the treatment plant but did not notify the resort, and the problem became evident in mid-2019, and during the winter ski season of 2019-20, the first lawsuit says. The second lawsuit mirrors and amplifies the allegations.

The second lawsuit also seeks costs incurred by the resort in bringing this complaint.

The resort is represented by the Silverang, Rosenzweig & Haltzman law firm of King of Prussia.

The water company is represented by the Marshall Dennehey law firm, which has an office in Scranton.

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