Letter: PA DEP Designates the Milford Aquifer an Environmental Justice Area--Are They in Time?
To the editor:
On Monday Oct. 2, 2023 at 7 pm. at Milford Twp. Hall - The Milford Twp. Supervisors have scheduled a Public Hearing on the Illegal Shepstone Wellhead Ordinance. By all accounts Milford Twp. is determined to adopt this illegal Ordinance no matter what the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act , the PA Wellhead Protection Program, and PA Municipal Planning Codes - promulgate in their Laws and Codes. In fact I dare them to pass it. Why? Because then the community has 30 days to find a competent environmental lawyer to bring the Federal and State Guidelines to come crashing down over their heads.
The community aided by the Friends of the Milford Aquifer's coordination should not have to do this. The MWA and the PADEP through their authority can easily bring this wayward ordinance into State and Federal compliance. The County Commissioners job is also to intervene when two municipalities have widely different ordinances that cover the same aquifer only separated by a road.
But to get everyone to live up to their oath to the people is like pulling teeth in our area. This should not be - but nobody seems to want to follow the PA rules in Pike County. Municipalities/Authorities/Commissioners/and EDA - all have this live and let live attitude even when federal and state codes are being broken. By declaring the Milford Aquifer an Environmental Justice Area ast week, the PA DEP Office of Environmental Justice stepped up to the plate in helping the voters/taxpayers of Pike County with this critical issue. This is an Excellent sign that at least someone is listening when others won't. But can the Environmental Justice Office step in on time to stop an illegal ordinance from taking place on Monday Oct. 2nd? This seems unlikely unless there is a public outcry. This EJ office is supposed to be proactive and give the community greater public comment and review periods with applications that put our Drinking Water under existential threat. But what about PA Code breaking ordinances that exacerbate this very same environmental justice area? How nimble and responsive are they?
Here is the dire situation we find ourselves in Pike County:
1) Milford Twp. is determined to pass this illegitimate ordinance. Why do I call it that?
a) It fails to follow the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act section 1428
b) The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) gave the States the tools and funding to find their groundwater drinking water sources and produce the programs and guidelines to protect these critical resources with vetted scientific methodologies. These strictly prescribed plans are to be registered with the Federal EPA. This program is outlined in 25 PA Code, Chapter 109 - the PA Wellhead Protection Program (WHPP.) The Shepstone Ordinance does NOT follow any of these Codes.
c) The WHPP gave funding to the local water providers like the MWA to Find and Delineate these groundwater resources using these scientific methodologies to conduct a Source Water Protection Plan. The MWA completed their SWPP in 2006. This study was conducted by esteemed Dr. Todd Giddings PHD in Hydrology and Geology whereby he created the three Wellhead Protection Zones prescribed by the WHPP. Zone 1 is a 400 ft. circle around the Wellhead or Spring with extremely strict rules for water production only in this Zone. The Shepstone Ordinance allows MANUFACTURING in this critical Zone 1. This is clearly a violation of the WHPP.
d) The next Zone is Zone 2. This is the exact perimeter of the groundwater catchment area that Todd Giddings was able to establish. The actual shape of this delineated Aquifer Zone 2 is about .7 miles wide by 2.5 miles long. The Shepstone Ordinance does NOT have this Zone 2 recognized in their definitions, in the body of the ordinance or in the Code prescribed MAPPING for this Ordinance. All three omissions are clear violations of the WHPP. The Shepstone Ordinance replaces the Code prescribed Zone 2 with a Bastardized combination of Surface water zones and undelineated wellhead zones that have nothing to do with the official delineated Groundwater Zone 2 from the MWA SWPP.
Finally Zone 3, is from the delineated Zone 2 out to the edge of the Sawkill Watershed. Originally the Zone 3 Watershed Map is what they were using instead of properly inserting the delineated aquifer zone 2 map. Then recently they produced another Code breaking Map - once again without the prescribed delineated Zone 2 Aquifer Zone. This is voodoo Ordinance making that breaks all the rules.
e) As for the MEGA Warehouse problem that most Pike County residents are concerned about - this ordinance actually upgrades the former warehouse definition to the expanded, much more ominous - Trucking Terminal Warehouse definition. This Ordinance does NOT Limit the size of warehouses but encourages the MEGA Size - the complete opposite of community wishes. Plus now the MEGA Warehouse is permitted just 400 ft from the Milford Springs. Why is Shepstone and Milford Twp. going in the wrong direction?
f) Because of these basterized zones - it makes way for inappropriate dirty industry development in places where they do NOT belong. The most egregious of these is - Mining 1000 ft away from the Milford Springs. Why? Dirty Industry like mining is a Shepstone specialty - damn the aquifer. This is a complete historical repudiation of scientific reality and history. In 1997 a mining operation 2,800 ft from the Springs - 2 1/2 times the Shepstone 1000 ft. - had to be shut down by the MWA because it was contaminating the Springs after strong rain storms. Fast forward to Sept. 2023 - the JFK Airport just got 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. Climate change has only gotten worse since the 1997 Mining operation shut down. Why is Shepstone and Milford Twp., allowing Mining just 1000 ft away from the Milford Springs? This is so egregious that the community should be appalled.
g) But it gets worse. Not only does this Shepstone Ordinance Violate The Wellhead Protection Program Codes but the PA Municipal Planning Code as well. PA Municipal Planning Code - Section 603.1 – A Municipality’s Ordinance is supposed to “Promote, protect, and facilitate …the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare” along with “the provision of a safe, reliable, and adequate water supply …as well as preservation of the natural, scenic, and historic values in the environment and preservation of forests, wetlands, and aquifers.
Summary - These are 7 metrics - why the Shepstone Ordinance is illegitimate. The Milford Twp.Supervisors latest proclamation is that these are "only state guidelines - gives you insight into the arrogant and "Twp. first" mindset of these municipal leaders.
Urgent and Time Crunched Action Plan:
1) We can petition the Environmental Justice Office to mobilize quickly and take on all issues concerning the Milford Aquifer and Springs. They need to have a comprehensive Pike County policy overview - not just a narrow mission. And what about the Shepstone Ordinance travesty taking place on OCT. 2, 2023? Can they intervene? Contact the Regional Environmental Justice Office director Juan Serrat at email jserratgon@pa.gov Phone: 484.250.5818 along with his DEP superiors: Andrea Fields, afields@pa.gov and ; Amani Reid, amreid@pa.gov . You can also contact Regional PA DEP director Joseph Buczynski jbuczynski@pa.gov and Dean Ritter , Wilkes-Barre Regional PADEP - dearitter@pa.gov phone 570 826-2511.
2) You can contact Milford Twp. directly at Phone: (570)296-5540 Email: milfrdtp@ptd.net. Tell them to postpone Shepstone Ordinance Public Hearing until the PADEP Office of Environmental Justice can establish themselves in Pike County. This NEW designated Environmental Justice Area will most likely change for the better the competency of the wrongly named Shepstone Wellhead Protection Ordinance.
3) Show Up or Zoom into the Shepstone Wellhead Protection Ordinance Public Hearing on Monday Oct. 2, 2023, at 7pm at the Milford Twp. Office. Zoom Meeting contact information for all meetings:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6426126626?pwd=QTNQbjhUSmNwdlAvM0ZseWRvQjc2Zz09 Meeting ID: 642 612 6626 Passcode: 07282020
A Note of Concern: The last two meetings pertaining to this Faulty Ordinance - were sparsely attended. This will not get the job done. We need community involvement not apathy I have always trusted the community to come through. Please follow through on this urgent issue. Thank you Vito
PS: 5) If all these steps fail - then the community needs to be prepared to take matters into their own hands and use the 30 day Ordinance reply period to find an Environmental Lawyer to represent us. We can use the power of social media in this endeavor and call on the numerous concerned environmental groups for help in finding an Environmental Lawyer - either pro-bono or at a reduced cost. The Friends of the Milford Aquifer can coordinate this but we are a Facebook group with no money. We will need others to help in fundraising.
Lastly, encourage the Milford Water Authority and the Cartwright Blue Ribbon Committee on the Warehouse/Aquifer Issue to attend this Public Hearing - to defend their interests.
Vito DiBiasi
Milford, PA
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