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Lebanon City public works reviews MS4 stormwater responsibilities, inspections
Summary
Director of public works Chad Yeagley gave the city’s required annual MS4 training overview, describing responsibilities for illicit-discharge detection, annual outfall inspections (about 180 outfalls), public education and coordination with county GIS; staff said two discharges were sent to a lab for testing last year.
Chad Yeagley, Lebanon City’s director of public works, presented the city’s annual MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer system) training and outlined the department’s stormwater responsibilities, inspection program and public outreach efforts.
"It is the municipal separate storm sewer system," Yeagley said, explaining that the local system routes street runoff directly to waterways rather than to a treatment plant. He said the city is the permittee for stormwater discharges within city limits and that Lebanon lies within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which drives some reporting and water-quality priorities.
Yeagley summarized the program’s main tasks: public education and outreach; illicit-discharge detection and elimination; outfall inspections (conducted annually); construction-site and post-construction review; good housekeeping and maintenance of city assets; and recordkeeping and reporting. He said the city inspects roughly 180 outfalls that discharge to waterways such as the Hazel Dyke and the Quitty, and that last year the city identified two discharges that were questionable and required laboratory testing. The Brandywine stream is also inspected, Yeagley said.
Yeagley told council common illicit discharges include grass clippings pushed into gutters, improper construction runoff and, in some cases, household discharges such as washing-machine effluent dumped to the street — which he said is not permitted. He reviewed what the city considers permitted discharges: firefighting runoff, irrigation and air-conditioner condensation; and said DEP (the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) recently tightened guidance on pool discharges and other miscellaneous discharges.
Staff explained that when the city receives reports of suspected illicit discharges it documents the incident and, when warranted, files a report with DEP; serious violations can lead to fines or notices of violation. Yeagley said public works conducts annual employee training to ensure field crews can identify and report potential problems, and the department works with the county on GIS mapping to maintain an accurate inventory of stormwater assets.
Council members and press asked questions about the number of outfalls inspected and frequency of contamination findings; Yeagley said about 180 outfalls are inspected annually and that two required follow-up lab testing last year. He asked residents to report suspected illicit discharges to the public works office or DEP.
