AWA told to stop reservoir silt disposal

Authority will halt dumping until issue is resolved

The state Department of Environmental Protection has asked the Altoona Water Authority to stop dumping silt from the Bellwood Reservoir on game lands in Reade Township until the authority can further document that the material won't harm the township's municipal wells.

The DEP request is in response to a recent formal complaint from the Reade Township Municipal Authority about the silt, out of concern the material could leach into the aquifer for the wells, whose recharge area includes the game land, according to officials involved in the matter.

The Altoona authority has a permit through the Cambria County Conservation District to dispose of the silt, which is considered clean fill, but the township's concern has thrown the issue into the jurisdiction of a bureau in DEP, according to Anna Itle, conservation district assistant manager/ resource specialist.

There are numerous unplugged drill holes from prior mining operations that could provide pathways for infiltration, according to James Thompson, vice chairman of the township authority.

"We're not hauling anymore until this issue gets resolved," said Altoona authority General Manager Mark Perry.

The Altoona authority's current National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit was granted by the conservation district under DEP oversight, but the matter is now under DEP's Bureau of Waste Management, Perry said.

To resolve the situation, the Altoona authority needs to decide whether to pursue a "general permit" from the bureau that would allow for disposal of the "dredged material" as clean fill under bureau rules or to "stand on what we already got permitted for," Perry said.

"It's pretty early in the process," he said.

The silt was sampled and tested prior to the start of the ongoing dam renovation, which includes silt removal, according to Altoona authority officials.

The Altoona authority was unaware that the game lands were in the recharge area for the township wells, Perry said.

A township official signed off on that NPDES permit, without mentioning that the disposal site was in the recharge area, Perry said.

Thompson has suggested that the Altoona authority deposit the silt in another game land, where the existing permit allows the dam renovation contractor to place the silt, but the Altoona authority didn't agree to that, Thompson said.

Sending the silt to that alternative game land would make things more "cumbersome," due to road access, and the area might not be large enough to accommodate all the silt left in the reservoir anyway, Perry said.

The authority was being inflexible about the silt, according to Thompson.

"They said they're not doing anything wrong and don't intend to change," he said a couple of weeks ago.

DEP is asking the Altoona authority to "cease deposition of all dredge material from the Bellwood Reservoir until such time as either the authority documents that the dredged material meets all requirements for clean fill under DEP's Management of Fill Policy or the authority applies for and obtains coverage under General Permit WMGR0150 Processing of Residual Waste for Beneficial Use," stated Benjamin Williams, environmental group manager for DEP's Bureau of Waste Management, in a letter to Perry last week.

DEP's investigation into the material already deposited on the gameland is ongoing, said DEP regional spokesman John Repetz.

In addition to concerns about the silt being dumped on the recharge area, there were also concerns about mud being tracked onto roads in the township by trucks hauling the silt, Thompson said.

PennDOT relayed that concern, and the Altoona authority's consulting engineer has spoken to the dam renovation contractor about the need to keep the roads clear, Perry said.

The hiatus on the hauling will allow the silt to dry out more, according to Perry.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.