Research continues into suggested Luzerne County legal action over pollution mandate

Luzerne County’s law office is preparing a comprehensive opinion about proposed county legal action attempting to stop a federal pollution reduction mandate and stormwater fees, but that opinion won’t be ready until the Feb. 11 county council meeting.

Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo explained the need for more time in a council meeting agenda memo released Friday.

“The issue is not only legally complex but factually as well,” she wrote in reference to the proposed litigation.

Crocamo said earlier this week that she and several assistant solicitors have been reviewing the legal issues involved in the mandate to determine if an action is possible and, if so, the resources that would be required to take on such a major case.

Her office plans to brief council on its legal review progress during Tuesday’s council work session, which follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Councilman Walter Griffith had proposed the county seek an injunction in federal court to halt the mandate and fee on behalf of residents, saying he is confident the county law office can handle the legal action in-house within its existing budget.

His suggested county legal action authorization was at the end of a lengthy proposed resolution seeking assistance ending the mandate from President Donald Trump, federal and state agencies and others.

Under the mandate, sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus in the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay must be reduced over the next five years.

The mandate was imposed on municipalities requiring MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer system) permits through the state because they have both urbanized areas determined by U.S. Census data and separate storm sewer systems. Separate storm systems mean stormwater is not mixed with wastewater, and thus is discharged directly into waterways without first being treated.

Some county municipalities have opted to comply by signing up for regional programs through the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority and Dallas Area Municipal Authority funded by stormwater fees.

County bill

The upcoming county law office comprehensive review also will cover options to address the county’s $118,000 stormwater fee bill from the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority.

County Manager C. David Pedri told council in October that he did not include a payment in the county’s proposed 2020 budget because he was optimistic he could exchange county services in that dollar amount.

The authority made repeated attempts to explore a partnership agreement that would have “greatly reduced” the county’s stormwater fee payment in exchange for the county providing services and data to reduce the authority’s program costs, authority Executive Director Jim Tomaine said last week.

“Unfortunately, these negotiations have not been fruitful,” Tomaine said.

In light of the county’s failure to budget any stormwater payment, the authority will pursue its available legal remedies to address the delinquency, he said, noting all participating municipalities have met their financial obligations in full.

Pedri said he has asked the county law office for a legal review to determine if the county must pay a stormwater fee as a government entity, but he stressed that does not mean the administration will ask council to take legal action over the bill.

He said the county has a “very cordial relationship” with the authority and wants to continue working together on a solution.

“I understand the authority must move forward on its end, but we still have an amicable relationship and should be able to resolve this,” Pedri said.

The lion’s share of the county’s stormwater bill stems from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Township, which is jointly operated by Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

A 600-acre Luzerne County-owned parcel covering most of the airport has the highest non-residential stormwater fee in the authority’s regional program because it contains 7.5 million square feet of paved areas and structures, officials have said.