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Residents form group to oppose Newtown sewer plant; board says solicitor preparing response
Summary
A Swan Point resident described a grassroots effort to stop a proposed Newtown sewer plant and asked the Middletown board to keep the matter on future agendas; the board chair said the township solicitor and his environmental lawyers are developing a plan and expects to report back.
Bill Everett of Swan Point told the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors that a grassroots group called "Stop the Newtown Sewer Plant" is organizing to oppose a proposed Newtown Sewer Authority wastewater treatment plant, described in his remarks as a 2,500,000‑gallon‑per‑day facility and an estimated $28,000,000 project. Everett said the Sewer Authority purchased 17.5 acres adjacent to a Wawa site and that the proposed plant would be within about 1.5 miles of roughly 12,000 residents in northern Middletown and Newtown townships; he urged outreach and coordination with neighboring boards and commissions.
Everett read a draft outreach message and provided the group’s contact email on the record as stoptheNewtownSewerPlant@gmail.com. He said the group plans neighborhood flyers, social‑media blasts and coordinated attendance at Newtown hearings, and that it intends to focus on the Newtown planning commission and zoning hearing board as key decision points.
Why it matters: residents said the plant would affect nearby neighborhoods, parks and waterways. The board acknowledged those concerns and said the township is developing a legal and strategic response.
Board Chair Mike Cusack commended the volunteer organizing and told the meeting the township is working with its solicitor and the solicitor’s environmental lawyers to develop a comprehensive plan from the township’s perspective. "We are developing a comprehensive plan from our township's perspective on how to address this," Cusack said, and he said more details will likely be available by the board’s next meeting. He also said the township intends to proceed carefully to avoid steps that could be legally ineffective.
Resident Donna Salvucci asked that the sewer‑project opposition be added as a formal agenda item at the next meeting; Cusack said the board intends to include the topic but that it is not yet certain whether the item will be for discussion only or would include a board vote.
The comments documented residents’ claims about capacity, cost and proximity of the proposed plant; the assertions were presented by community members and were not adopted as township findings during the meeting. The board did not take a formal vote on any action related to the Newtown Sewer Authority at this meeting, but staff and the solicitor’s office are developing next steps to share at a future meeting.
