Chester Stormwater Authority gets complaints about Delcora dumping sludge in drains

CHESTER >> As the Chester Stormwater Authority recently acquired 1,700 inlets from the city, residents told board members of work that needs to be done clearing trash so the water runs easier.

On Sept. 26, the authority acquired 1,700 inlets from the city for $1.

“So now the responsibility is on us,” Livia Smith, chairwoman of the Chester Stormwater Authority, said, explaining that because the city didn’t have the needed resources to tend to all the inlets, the authority will now do so, along with other supportive projects. “The inlets are a concern because they are one of the vehicles that control the flow of water.”

Theresa Good of the 1300 block of Parker Street asked the authority to clear the drains at

12th and Kerlin streets, Eighth and Butler streets, Ninth and Lincoln streets, as well as others.

“Something has to be done with these drains,” the 45-yearresident said. “We live in a floodplain ... It’s going to be a disaster. You’ve got to fix the trash, please, first.”

Chester Stormwater Authority Executive Manager Horace Strand said he’d have staff check on the locations beginning today.

Portia West, who is an authority board member and a city councilwoman, explained that the city Department of Streets and Public Improvements has a staff of less than 20 employees to handle grass cutting, potholes, illegal dumping and, previously, the inlet clearing.

She said the city had been able to get some control over flooding conditions.

“On days we know it’s going to be a major rain, we make an asserted effort to go out on that day and sweep all the inlets to make sure that they’re not clogged,” she said.

Even though the inlets had been in the possession of the stormwater authority for only two weeks, Smith said work has begun to clear them.

“We have started that and that process has been started since we acquired it,” she said, adding, “The trash didn’t just come yesterday. It’s an accumulation over time and now, we’re trying to put a halt to it so we don’t have our city floating like Dallas and other places.”

Smith also noted that Chester is the last stop of the stream that flows from other places before flowing into the Delaware River. “Don’t forget we’re at the end of the run,” she said.

West said authority officials would be reaching out to mosque imams and church pastors to talk to their congregations about clearing up their own properties to help in flood prevention.

“Clean out the front of your place,” West said. “Then, that will help too.”

In another concern, city resident Margaret Brown said she was aware of Delcora trucks dumping sewage into a pipe on Wilson Street between Third and Fourth streets from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for the last few months.

“I saw him there and I thought they were cleaning the sewers out,” she said, adding that she was told by her son that they were, in fact, putting the sewage in there, not removing it.

Michael DeSantis, Delcora’s director of operations and maintenance, said the truck does this to make operations more efficient.

He explained that their trucks go out into the city and clean the streets and grease and grit are removed from the liquid they pick up. When the liquid portion of the truck is full, they dump it into the 36-inch pipe on Wilson Street so they don’t have to go to the Western Regional Treatment Plant on the edge of the city near Trainer. When the grease and grit debris is full, the drivers take the trucks to the plant to be unloaded.

“That manhole is one of our main interceptors,” DeSantis said. “It is not illegal dumping ... It’s much more efficient for us to stay on the job.”

He said the crews don’t get out onto the streets until 6:30 a.m. or 7depending on the time of a.m.,year and light hours.