Allegheny Township working to fix sewage issues on Labelle Vue Road

Allegheny Township officials are taking steps to tackle a sewage problem affecting multiple residences on LaBelle Vue Road.

Eight houses on the rural road in Westmoreland County have what township Manager Greg Primm described as failing septic systems.

An unidentified female LaBelle Vue Road resident filed a complaint June 28 with the Department of Environmental Protection Agency.

In the sewage complaint, the resident said her neighbors were having trouble with their septic, and sewage was leaching out onto the road.

Multiple in-person attempts by a Trib reporter to contact the resident who filed the complaint and anyone residing on LaBelle Vue Road experiencing sewage woes were unsuccessful.

Primm recently sent a letter to the Allegheny Township Sewer and Water Authority, asking them to study the problem.

He said there have been notices from PennDOT and DEP regarding the issue.

“It makes no sense when you have this many (septic) failing in one area to try and fix them individually. I’m trying to facilitate a project,” Primm said.

Primm said the homes have what is called “wildcat sewers,” not uncommon in rural areas in Pennsylvania.

A wildcat sewer is the name given to makeshift pipes that people use to drain raw sewage into ditches and waterways and are more common in rural areas lacking municipal sewage service.

Primm estimated the affected septic systems could be more than 50 years old.

Township officials said the public project will take months or up to year to begin, according to Township Municipal Authority board member Joe Ferguson.

The project cost is unknown but will be paid for with a PennVest loan, and affected residents will have to pay sewer tap-in fees totaling about $5,000.

“Could be a million, or more, we don’t really know,” Primm said of the estimated cost for the project that will take years from start to finish.

Ferguson said next up is an inspection on the affected homes by the township sewage officer.

Township officials said the leaking sewage is leaching above and below ground.

“Any sewage is a health and safety issue,” said Ferguson when asked if leaking sewage was a threat to the public’s safety on LaBelle Vue Road.

The township hopes to work with officials from Vandergrift and the Kiski Valley Water Authority tapping into the township’s sewage system.

“The closest sewer line is on the Vandergrift side. We’ve worked with them before on other projects,” Ferguson said.