Moraine wastewater project unnoticed, but ‘really important’
Some of the wastewater pump stations at Moraine State Park have been there since the park’s establishment in 1970, and their parts are getting harder and harder to find when maintenance needs to be performed.
Dustin Drew, manager of Moraine, said the park is in the midst of a $2.88 million wastewater improvement project, which will replace some of the pumps and sewer lines in the park. He said many people may not realize the extent of the park’s wastewater management system, but there are six pumps on the North Shore alone.
“The park has its own wastewater treatment plant, so we have to get it over there so we can treat it,” Drew said. “For a state park, it's on the bigger side. We also treat all of Prospect borough's sewage, so we have to be able to handle their flows as well.”
The wastewater system at Moraine spans from the marina at McDanel’s Boat Launch all the way to the cabins at the park and handles water from restrooms and other park administration facilities, as well as the cabins. The treatment plant on the North Shore, Drew said, is located near the dam in Lake Arthur and can be seen from Route 422.
According to Drew, the project to replace pump stations and wastewater lines on the north shore has been going on for several months, but it has hit a standstill while contractors wait on materials to replace the pumps.
The project is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Drew said.
Initially, the north shore project was supposed to be done in August, but now, Drew estimates it will be done around this time next year. The South Shore wastewater project — the side that also handles Prospect’s wastewater — has yet to begin.
The maintenance work will not impact visitors to the park, Drew said, and even the turnover to the new system will be done in a way that minimizes interruptions to visitors and tenants of the cabins.
Like the rest of the park, the wastewater system at Moraine is used less frequently in the winter months, but use picks up in the spring and summer. Drew said the project is expensive but necessary in order for the park to efficiently process wastewater.
“A lot of the line work was done, now they're just waiting on the pumps,” Drew said. “Part of the disheartening part of these projects we're getting is a lot of these are buried underground, but it is really important.”
