May 4, 2018 4 min read

Four Washington County townships affected by the Mariner East 2 pipeline are exploring a joint grant application to secure some of the $12.6 million penalty Sunoco Pipeline was assessed for permit violations.

North Strabane, Union, Chartiers and Nottingham townships would use the money for stormwater management.

Robert Balogh, Union Township manager and North Strabane Township supervisor, said since the grant program is focused on clean-water protections, using the potential funds for stormwater control “seemed like a natural fit.”

“When grants are applied for in a multi-jurisdiction way, we stand a much better chance of getting funded than if we had applied on our own,” Balogh said.

The grant program was announced last month by Gov. Tom Wolf, after Sunoco Pipeline was hit with the historic $12.6 million penalty related to the construction project. The grants will be directed to 85 municipalities, county conservation districts, incorporated watershed associations, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations along the length of the 400-mile pipeline, planned to run from Scio, Ohio, through West Virginia and Washington County to Marcus Hook.

Balogh said Union Township has dealt with mud and traffic complaints related to the pipeline’s construction, but is unaware of any issues stemming from the violations for which Sunoco was fined.

Though he’s not sure how much of the $12.6 million the townships will apply for, Balogh said they’d like to use the money to establish a joint stormwater authority.

“It has primarily to do with the overwhelming problems we’ve had with flooding and the amount of stormwater people are experiencing,” he said. “It’s a bigger problem than what rural townships can handle on their own.”

Balogh said the stormwater problem that was brought to light with several major floods in the past year was decades in the making. He said part of the problem is an increase in development, pavement and road projects over the years that have increased the amount of water and eliminated places for it to go.

“We’ve gone with no real regulation of that, and a stormwater authority would be able to do that,” he said. “If we all pull together, the authority could be given that charge and dedicated to that specific problem.”

The authority would have a charter and be run by representatives of the townships, Balogh said. It might also give the county commissioners the ability to appoint representatives to the authority board.

North Strabane supervisors voted in favor of the application Tuesday. Andrew Walz, North Strabane Township manager, said they want to be “proactive” with future flooding issues.

“We think that there’s obviously flooding issues, and we’re looking to work together,” he said. “The county as a whole has been experiencing increased and sustained stormwater runoff issues.”

Walz said the grant money would pay for start-up costs for the stormwater authority, including having an engineer conduct a comprehensive study on problem areas, provide recommendations on how to mitigate the issues, and establish “best management practices to better control the stormwater.”

“It’s not a quick fix, but it’s a start,” Walz said.

The grant application round opens Monday and will close 45 days later. The municipalities plan to meet Monday with a grant writer to go over how much money to apply for and the overall application.

Though Chartiers Township has not yet taken any action to participate in the application, township manager Jodi Noble said she plans to be at that Monday meeting. She said the township supervisors might make a decision Tuesday.

“We haven’t acted yet, so I can’t say we’re definitely going to participate, but we’re certainly looking at it as a viable option,” she said. “It’s a unique opportunity to turn what was a negative problem into an opportunity to help solve what is a large and widespread issue across all of our municipalities and the county – and that is stormwater management.”

Noble said Chartiers Township had an “uncharacteristically tough winter,” with flooding in January and February it typically does not have. She said areas that don’t usually flood, flooded this year with a “tremendous amount of water.”

“It’s a huge problem for all of us,” she said. “Financially, it’s a very large expense and a difficult one to find the funds to properly address in our individual budgets.”

That’s one reason why her township is considering this regional stormwater approach.

“Water doesn’t stop at any of our borders, and that was the idea behind taking the multimunicipal approach,” she said. “Generally, funding agencies like to see multimunicipal approaches because it can have larger, regional impacts.”

Nottingham Township officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.