West Chester Borough’s sewer system is at capacity. This means no new sewer connections can be added to the Goose Creek Sewer System, which services the south and east sides of the Borough. While that may not seem like much it’s actually a pretty big problem that has several West Chester businesses at a standstill.

Over the summer, Pennoni, the Borough’s engineering consultant, submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) sewer facility planning modules for apartment complexes planned at 250 E. Market St. and 410 S. High St. The modules suggest how the Borough could expand the Goose Creek Plant’s capacity to accommodate the additional 70,000 to 80,000 gallons of wastewater a day the apartments would generate.

While researching for the plans, Pennoni identified several pipes along Maple Alley, Fasnaught Alley, and S. Franklin St. that had capacity limitations during peak flow. During wet weather, certain manholes became surcharged but did not overflow. In review, PADEP didn’t see the issue as simply future tense (i.e. with the additional 80,000 daily gallons) but current tense.

“PADEP will not approve any new flow into the system until this connection management/corrective action plan is in place,” Pennoni Municipal Division Manager and project lead Mike Ellis told the Borough Council’s Public Works Committee earlier this month.

The system is so near capacity it is not just these major new developments that have been impacted but any and all construction projects requiring even a single Equivalent Dwelling Unit ( EDU) of additional capacity from the Goose Creek Sewer system. (For all you non-plumbers, an EDU is a standard unit of measurement used by utility companies and is defined as “one single-family residential household.”)

Steve’s Steaks, a new restaurant looking to open at 27 S. High St., has been hung up for months awaiting the ok to add three EDUs to the system. At 34 S. High St., there is a proposal to convert a barbershop into a restaurant but to do it would require an additional EDU, so it too has been held up.

Corrective Action Plan Approved by Borough Council

Last week, West Chester Borough Council approved a Connection Management Plan and Corrective Action Plan for submission to PADEP. The plan has three phases that would address not only current capacity issues but future ones. However, it comes at a cost. The first two phases of the project will cost the Borough north of $2 million (and yes, these costs come to the Borough.) Sewer tap fees will eventually cover a portion of the investment but these will not be collected until the buildings are complete. That is well after the finished upgrades have been done and paid for.)

How exactly did we get here? Well, that is a good question, and I’ve posed it to Borough Manager Sean Mettrick but he can only guess as appropriate corrective action would have predated his tenure.

“I can only speculate that either wet weather capacity analysis wasn’t performed prior to my tenure here, or if it was it didn’t indicate the surcharging conditions we found. Measuring wet weather flows is sometimes, no pun intended, a crap shoot,” he said in an email.

Fortunately, Pennoni and team had been researching capacity options for the Borough for over a year when the directive to stop new hookups came. So the good news is the Borough does have a well-thought-out plan forward. The bad news is it remains at the mercy of PADEP approval.

“We went as aggressively as we could with PADEP,” Mike told Council Members. However, to no avail. They are now hoping that once the agency sees they are committed to corrective action they will allow the Borough to again connect small projects while the larger improvements are made.

“The Connection Management Plan is going to let us, if PADEP approves it, approve the mom and pop small incremental changes so we don’t hold those people up,” Borough Manager Sean Mettrick said during the Public Works meeting. “I don’t think it’s right to hold those people up.”.

The plan was approved last week by Borough Council and should by now be in PADEP’s hands. While nothing is ever a certainty with state agencies, Pennoni is hoping to have a response and permission to move forward with at least the smaller projects in a month or two.

Goose Creek Sewer System Connection Management Plan Overview

Phase 0: Submit the Connection Management/Corrective Action Plan to PA DEP
Connection capacity: ~24 EDUs (27 S. High St.; 34 S. High St.; + 20 miscellaneous)

Timing: Immediate upon acceptance

Phase 1: Upgrade four pipes under Maple Alley from Linden St. to Lacey St.
Cost: $1.3 million

Connection capacity: ~364 EDUS (250 E. Market St., 410 S. High St., + 20 miscellaneous)

Timing: End 2025

Phase 2: Upgrade four additional pipes under Maple Alley from Lacey to Union Sts.
Cost: $1.1 million

Connection capacity: ~ 329 EDUs (N. Adams St. project or any other large projects)

Timing: potential 2026 start

Phase 3: Construct a pump station near Franklin and Cedar Alley
Cost: TBD (if needed)

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Originally published on Jan. 24, 2025

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