GREENVILLE, PA. Residents question failure of pump

One pump was out for repairs when the other failed.
By LAURI GALENTINE
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- It wasn't so much the waterline break a few days ago that upset borough residents. It's the pump failure Oct. 26 that has everyone asking questions.
Council members addressed the issue with a written statement read by Councilman David P. Henderson at Tuesday's meeting.
"The water authority's deficiency in recent weeks adds to a lackluster performance the community has had from their water company," read Henderson.
In the statement, council said that the failure of the pump put lives in danger and gave "a serious black eye to the community's image."
Council asked that anyone who has concerns, or can offer recommendations on how to ensure that these problems don't reoccur, should send a letter to council chambers by Nov. 21, or attend the Greenville Municipal Authority meeting Nov. 26.
In answer to many questions from residents, council President Bryan D. Langietti said, "We are not responsible for the authority, but we are working to address these problems."
Langietti explained that the authority operates as a separate entity, governing itself. He said it normally has two pumps running alternately to pump the water to the town. One of those pumps, he said, was out for repairs when the other failed. There was no backup.
Questions arose
Several residents asked who was responsible for the pump failure and why there was no backup.
Members of council said they wanted the answer to those questions, too.
There still are no answers to the questions that arose earlier this year, when council discovered the town was facing a $1.62 million deficit.
Everyone wants to know why.
Borough Solicitor Warren R. Keck III said he spoke with Mercer County District Attorney James P. Epstein on Tuesday about the status of the investigation into possible criminal activity connected with the deficit.
The investigation is in the hands of the state police, Keck said.
He said Epstein told him he expects to make a public statement concerning the matter in the next week or two.
Resident Lorrie Smith wasn't so sure there would ever be an answer.
She said she had contacted the attorney general's office after being told a few months ago that it was investigating, only to learn that it never accepted the investigation.
"Many of us have doubts that this investigation is going anywhere. It's being tossed around like a football," Smith said.
Problems with pump
Meanwhile, the authority said Tuesday that it can't get the new $20,000 pump it purchased to replace the failed unit to work properly and has sent it back to the manufacturer in Kansas to be rebuilt.
It should be back in a week, an authority spokeswoman said.
The authority will temporarily install a portable electric pump in its place today to continue to draw raw water from the Shenango River.
Once that is done, the authority can test for bacteria in the water and, if there is none over a 24-hour period, the authority can ask the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to lift the boil water notice that has been in place since Nov. 4, the spokeswoman said.
XCONTRIBUTOR: Harold Gwin, Vindicator Sharon Bureau.