DELAWARE RIVER BASIN COMMISSION Commission Meeting and Public Hearing [31 Pa.B. 6826] The Delaware River Basin Commission (Commission) will hold an informal conference followed by a public hearing on Tuesday, December 18, 2001. The hearing will be part of the Commission's regular business meeting. Both the conference session and business meeting are open to the public and will be held at the Commission offices at 25 State Police Drive, West Trenton, NJ.
The conference among the Commissioners and staff will begin at 10 a.m. Topics of discussion will include the status of the Comprehensive Plan process; an update on PCB characterization studies and PCB and VOC point source monitoring data submissions; summaries of the Flow Management Technical Advisory Committee meeting of November 16, 2001, and a 2-day meeting of the Commission and HydroQual staff and Peer Review Panel members on November 29-30, 2001; a proposal to release for public comment the Commission's proposed Integrated Resource Plan guidance; a proposal to fund a pilot Internet GIS interactive mapping application; a proposal to adopt revised FOIA provisions; and a report on the Commission's rulemaking agenda for 2002.
The subjects of the public hearing to be held during the 1 p.m. business meeting include, in addition to the following dockets, a resolution under Articles 3.3 and 10.4 of the Delaware Basin Compact declaring a Water Supply Emergency and directing measures to preserve water supplies; a resolution adopting the Commission's annual budgets for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, and apportioning among the signatory parties the amount required for the support of the current expense and capital budgets; and a resolution adopting the 2002 Water Resources Program.
The dockets scheduled for public hearing are as follows:
1. Agere Systems D-86-79 Renewal. A ground water withdrawal renewal project with an increase from 22.3 million gallons (mg)/30 days to 27.88 mg/30 days to supply the applicant's manufacturing facility from existing Well No. PW-1 in the Richland formation. The project is located in the Bernhart Creek watershed in Muhlenberg Township, Berks County, PA.
2. Warrington Township Municipal Authority D-90-19 CP Renewal. A ground water withdrawal renewal project to continue withdrawal of 43.68 mg/30 days of water to supply the applicant's public distribution system from existing Wells Nos. 1--6, 8, 9 and 11 in the Stockton formation. The project is located in Warrington Township, Bucks County in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Ground Water Protected Area.
3. Philadelphia Suburban Water Company D-98-11 CP. A project to withdraw up to 4.0 million gallons per day (mgd) from the East Branch Brandywine Creek for public water supply when stream flow exceeds 25% of the average daily flow and is greater than 90 mgd for the Brandywine River at Chadds Ford. The applicant proposes to serve West Brandywine Township and portions of East Brandywine Township and to include capacity for future service to a portion of Wallace Township, all in Chester County, PA. The intake will be situated on the east bank of the East Branch Brandywine Creek just south of Marshall Road in Wallace Township. When available, the raw water will be conveyed for storage in a nearby abandoned quarry (known as Cornog Quarry) with an estimated storage capacity of approximately 100 mg. Withdrawals ranging from 0.5 mgd to 1.0 mgd will then be made from the quarry, treated by a proposed new filter plant and distributed to the project service area.
4. Borough of Woodstown D-99-4 CP. A ground water withdrawal project to supply up to 8.1 mg/30 days of water to the applicant's distribution system from new Well No. 5, located in the Middle Potomac-Raritan-Magothy Aquifer, and to increase the existing combined withdrawal limit from all wells from 18.1 mg/30 days to 26.2 mg/30 days. The project is located in Woodstown Borough, Salem County, NJ.
5. Mallinckrodt Baker, Inc. D-99-35. A ground water withdrawal project to continue to provide 92.82 mg/30 days of water to the applicant's industrial facility and remediation system from 15 existing wells; to permit an additional 2.32 mg/30 days from four new wells located in the Kittatinny Aquifer: and to limit the withdrawal from all wells to 95.14 mg/30 days. The project is located in the Town of Phillipsburg, Warren County, NJ.
6. Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic Holdings, LLC D-2000-8 (Revised). A project to construct a 560 megawatt natural gas-fired electric power generating plant at the applicant's existing Portland Generating Station (previously owned by Sithe Portland LLC) in Portland Borough and Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, PA. No increase in surface water allocation is proposed, and the applicant's existing intake on the Delaware River has the capacity to provide the 5.13 mgd of cooling and process water required by the plant. Of this amount, approximately 4.12 mgd will be consumptively used due to evaporation and drift. The electric power generated will be conveyed via local transmission lines to the PA-NJ-MD power grid for sale. Approximately 1 mgd of process wastewater will be discharged via the existing outfall to a portion of the Delaware River in DRBC Water Quality Zone 1D.
7. Thomas H. Draper D-2000-69. A ground water withdrawal project to supply up to 21.2 mg/30 days of water to irrigate approximately 130 acres of corn crops from Wells Nos. 1--3 in the Columbia Aquifer. The applicant's farm is located near the Town of Milton, Sussex County, DE.
8. Village of Monticello D-2001-5 CP. An application for approval of a ground water withdrawal project to supply up to 9.72 mg/30 days of water to the applicant's public distribution system from new Well No. 3, and to maintain the total combined allocation from existing Wells Nos. 1 and 2 and new Well No. 3 at 27 mg/30 days. The project well is located in gravel formation in the Village of Monticello, Sullivan County, NY and will continue to supply the Village of Monticello service area.
9. Leesport Borough Authority D-2001-21 CP. A project to expand a 0.2 mgd contact stabilization sewage treatment plant (STP) to treat 0.5 mgd, while maintaining secondary level of treatment via the sequencing batch reactor process. The plant is located 1,800 feet south of the intersection of State Routes 61 and 383 in Leesport Borough, Berks County, PA. The project will continue to serve Leesport Borough and discharge to the Schuylkill River via a new outfall line.
10. Montgomery County Sewer Authority D-2001-42 CP. A project to rerate the Oaks STP from 9.17 mgd to 9.5 mgd as an annual average flow. The plant will continue to provide advanced secondary treatment via an anoxic/oxic process. The Oaks STP is located at the confluence of the Perkiomen Creek and the Schuylkill River in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, PA. The project will continue to serve portions of Upper Providence, Lower Providence, Perkiomen, and Skippack Townships, plus Collegeville and Trappe Boroughs, all in Montgomery County. STP effluent will continue to be discharged to the Schuylkill River through the existing outfall.
11. Tredyffrin Township D-2001-44. A ground water withdrawal project to supply up to 1.71 mg/30 days of water to the applicant's park irrigation system from new Well No. WP-1 in the Limestone and Quartzite Formation. The project is located in the Valley Creek watershed in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Ground Water Protected Area.
12. Little Washington Wastewater Co. D-2001-54. A project to expand a 93,000 gpd STP to process an average flow of 115,133 gpd, while maintaining a tertiary level of treatment. The plant is located just south of Little Washington-Lyndell Road and about 3,000 feet east of Route 322 in East Brandywine Township, Chester County, PA. Currently, up to 53,000 gpd of STP effluent is discharged to Culbertson Run, a tributary of East Branch Brandywine Creek, and 40,000 gpd is discharged to nearby effluent disposal beds that recharge the ground water table. The proposed expanded flow will be treated and discharged to additional effluent disposal beds. The proposed expansion will enable the applicant to serve additional residential developments in East Brandywine Township.
In addition to the public hearing items, the Commission will address the following at its 1 p.m. business meeting: minutes of the October 31, 2001, business meeting; announcements; a report on basin hydrologic conditions; reports by the Executive Director and General Counsel; a directed appearance by six Delaware Estuary point source dischargers to explain their failure to provide PCB monitoring data required by the Commission; a resolution to fund a pilot internet GIS interactive mapping application; a resolution adopting the 2002 Water Resources Program; a resolution for the minutes expanding the Watershed Advisory Council to include as many as 40 members; and public dialogue.
Documents relating to the dockets and other items may be examined at the Commission's offices. Preliminary dockets, with the exception of number D-98-11 CP, are available in single copies upon request and will be posted on the Commission's website at http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/commeet.htm on or about December 6, 2001. Docket D-98-11 CP will not be available before the close of business on December 13, 2001. Contact Thomas L. Brand at (609) 883-9500 ext. 221 with docket-related questions. Persons wishing to testify at this hearing are requested to register in advance with the Secretary at (609) 883-9500 ext. 203.
Individuals in need of an accommodation as provided for in the Americans with Disabilities Act who wish to attend the hearing should contact the Commission Secretary, Pamela M. Bush, directly at (609) 883-9500 ext. 203 or through the New Jersey Relay Service at (800) 852-7899 (TTY), to discuss how the Commission may accommodate their needs.
PAMELA M. BUSH,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 01-2229. Filed for public inspection December 14, 2001, 9:00 a.m.]
