CONNOQUENESSING TWP — The township has less than 10 days to submit an updated sewage plan schedule to the state Department of Environmental Protection after the agency found it was in violation of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act.

The township received a letter from the DEP June 2 which said the township’s failure to implement public sewage according to its approved plan has led to the pollution of public waters, and is a statutory nuisance.

The township supervisors reviewed the letter at a meeting Wednesday, June 7, which supervisor chairman Terry Steinheiser said caught the board off guard when it arrived the previous day.

“It was shocking,” Steinheiser said. “They are tired of us kicking the can down the road.”

According to the DEP’s letter, the agency approved the township’s plan in March 2019, which planned for construction to begin on a selected sewer design by August 2022. The township had table a previous plan it had put together last August due to concerns over the cost of the project. The Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act of 1966 requires a municipality to develop, adopt and implement comprehensive plans that provide for the sewage disposal needs of its area.