Mobile home park ordered to close plant
The sewage plant must be closed by Aug. 15.
HILLSVILLE, Pa. -- A Lawrence County mobile home park has been ordered to shut down its sewage treatment plant because of a history of noncompliance with state regulations.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection sent notice Wednesday to the owners of Woodview Estates Mobile Home Park in Mahoning Township.
"The only way to avoid the potential environmental and human health hazards from this malfunctioning system is to shut it down," DEP Northwest Regional Director Kelly Burch said.
The dilapidated treatment plant is discharging inadequately treated sewage into the Mahoning River, according to the DEP.
DEP officials didn't say how the order would affect residents of the trailer park.
Woodview Estates has an extensive history of chronic violations and failing to maintain current discharge permits to operate the sewage treatment plant.
On April 13, 2005, DEP issued a notice of violation documenting the expired discharge permit, the dilapidated condition of the facility, improper submittal of required reports and chronic discharge violations. The owners of the mobile home park failed to address these issues.
Two more efforts
On Dec. 14, 2005, and then again on March 16, DEP presented proposed settlements to Woodview Estates' owners, who either failed to respond to the offer or refused to sign.
"In spite of numerous efforts by DEP to work with the owners to resolve compliance issues at the park, the owners have failed to take steps to correct the problems," Burch said.
Mahoning Township Supervisor Poncho Exposito said the township has been trying to work with the owners and have talked about tying the mobile home park into the public sewage system that is slowly making its way through the township. Exposito noted that the public sewage system hasn't yet made it to the section of U.S. Route 224 where Woodview Estates is located.
According to the DEP the mobile home park is owned by five men: Thomas C. Pfeifer, Raymond Power, Larry P. Benton, Douglas E. Steltzer and John E. Matter. The DEP didn't have addresses for them and they could not be reached to comment.
Under today's DEP-issued order, the owners of Woodview Estates are required to properly close the sewage treatment plant and decommission it by Aug. 15.