The headline for this piece says it all — the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, specifically the state legislature, and the federal government are not doing enough to help local communities with the mandates being imposed as a result of the 2000 Chesapeake Bay Agreement.
    That mandate is forcing the Valley Joint Sewage Treatment Plant — which is overseen by the authority — to undertake an estimated $14 million upgrade in order to reduce the levels of phosphorus and nitrogen into the Susquehanna River.
    These upgrades are being mandated for 184 sewage treatment plants that discharge into the Susquehanna River or into any of the river’s tributaries.
    In addition, there is currently no state funding available to help offset the costs of these upgrades. In the Valley, that means that the entire cost of the project would be solely borne by the sewer users within Athens Borough, Athens Township, Sayre and South Waverly.
    However, it has been noted that the state legislature is currently working on legislation that would allocate $300 million for these mandated upgrades — the total cost of which is estimated at $1 billion.
    It’s nice that the state is looking to finally fund one-third of the total costs of these projects, but that is still not enough in our estimation.
    And while some funding is better than no funding, we are disappointed that our local state legislators have not stood up to decry this latest unfunded mandate that is being handed down by both the state government, and by extension the federal government, through the Federal Clean Water Act.
    There are too many unfunded mandates that are being handed down by both the state and federal government, and it is time we the taxpayers said “enough!”
    The state legislature — and the federal government as well — needs to come up with enough funding to pay for the majority of these total projects, not one-third of those costs.
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State Rep. Tina Pickett’s Harrisburg office can be reached at (717) 783-8238. The phone number for her Sayre district office is (570) 888-9011 and the phone number for her Towanda district office is (570) 265-3124. She can also be e-mailed at tpickett@pahousegop.com.
State Sen. Roger Madigan’s Harrisburg office can be reached at (717) 787-3280. The phone number of his Towanda district office is (570) 268-4313.
The Pennsylvania Governor’s office can be reached at (717) 787-2500.
U.S. Rep. Chris Carney’s Washington, D.C., office can be reached at (202) 225-3731.