In 1963 the first dirt
was shoveled to begin the public waste disposal system for the Borough of
Myerstown. By the end of 1964 the entire Borough was on public sewer and the
construction of a 500,000 MGD wastewater plant was constructed and in
operation.
The Myerstown Sewage Treatment Plant effluent is discharged
into the Tulpehocken Creek.
In 1972 the Borough of Myerstown was in the
process of exploring the possibility of a upgrade and expansion of its
wastewater treatment facility, when the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Resources told the Borough of Myerstown they favored a regional
system and designated the existing Myerstown Treatment plant as a joint
municipal wastewater plant. Due to the fact that our neighbors Jackson
Township, Richland Borough and Millcreek Township were also looking into their
own wastewater facilities, DEP decided the Myerstown Plant would now serve four
municipal entities, namely Richland Borough, Millcreek Township and Jackson
Township, along with the Borough.
The expansion would increase the MGD
from 500,000 to 1.4 million gallons per day and would now include the flow from
three other municipalities. With plans well underway for the plant upgrade and
expansion, attention was turned to the design of an Inter-Municipal Agreement.
Since the Borough of Myerstown was the owner of the existing plant, similar
agreements were entered into between the Borough of Myerstown and Jackson
Township and the Borough of Myerstown and Richland/Millcreek communities.
Construction on the above started in October or 1977 and was completed
in July of 1979.
The Borough was again mandated by the Department of
Environmental Protection to meet new discharge regulations and an upgrade to
the existing plant was ordered. This work was completed at the end of 2009 and
the new plant went on-line. The plant was over 27 years old and too costly to
operate with its old technology and equipment breakdowns (some of which could
be very expensive and time consuming to repair/replace). These types of issues
could prohibit us from meeting permit levels and would result in high
fines.
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