Stop Throwing Stuff In The River
Northeast Pennsylvania, which includes Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and the Poconos, is a beautiful region full of tree-covered mountains sliced by rivers and creeks. It’s a great area for outdoors enthusiasts looking for a place to hike, bike, ski, or canoe.
But it’s an area that sometimes struggles with keeping these attractions in top condition. Old mine water runs into the rivers. Abandoned buildings sit in ruins hoping to be renovated or removed for a new building.
The region’s environmental legacy just took another hit.
The EPA recently filed suit against the Scranton Sewer Authority. For dumping more than 1 billion gallons of raw sewage into the Lackawanna River last year. The entire city’s infrastructure needs to be improved, and the sewage lines are no different. The authority submitted a plan in 1998 and has not updated the plan (I assume that means they haven’t started either!)
The authority director may claim “substantial progress” in upgrading the sewage system, but we’re at a time when we need more. Nature is one of this region’s strongest assets. The area’s leaders shouldn’t be satisfied with progress, but in preserving its assets (oh, and meeting the law). That’s what makes for a livable community.
