Center Township funds shouldn't be used to reimburse the Butler Area Sewer Authority for costs and a fine BASA incurred because of a sewage overflow behind Center Township Elementary School. That reimbursement should be the responsibility of the Center Township Athletic Association — whether it takes one year, five years or 20 years for the association to pay off the obligation.

The association should not have tampered with a manhole and sewer line at the site where a new ballfield was being built during the summer — not without first getting BASA's approval and guidance on the work.

If unauthorized tampering with the sewer facilities wasn't bad enough, the association created a situation in which the manhole became a "basketball hoop" for rocks, sticks and other debris that children — and maybe adults — tossed into the manhole, eventually causing the clog.

That resulted in the overflow of an undetermined amount of sewage.

In the aftermath of that discharge, it took BASA employees 53 hours of work to repair the problem at a cost of approximately $12,000 to $15,000. In addition, BASA, which already is living under strained relations with the state Department of Environmental Protection because of its failure to comply with a former consent agreement with the DEP dealing with stormwater infiltration and illegal sewage discharges, was slapped with a $200 fine by the state agency.

Fortunately for BASA, that fine amounted to a slap on the wrist, but the fine is not looked upon kindly by BASA customers whose sewage bill money paid the penalty.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. BASA still must investigate whether the athletic association caused any other damage that has not yet been found. And, BASA will have to keep track of corrective work that the association carries out in the spring in regard to the manhole.

That monitoring also will waste valuable man-hours of BASA employees.

A story in Thursday's edition of the Butler Eagle noted that the Center Township supervisors had been unaware of the unhealthy and damaging situation created by the athletic group until after the sewage overflow had occurred in late November.

Part of addressing the mess following the overflow involved BASA scraping off the top layer of dirt and using non-toxic chemicals to disinfect the land.

"It was just a mess," said John Schon, BASAmanager.

Considering all the challenges BASA faces in regard to complying with its new consent agreement with the DEP, the sewer authority shouldn't also be beset with such unnecessary problems.

It is the obligation of the athletic association to accept responsibility for its action by promising to repay BASA for the financial losses it has incurred in this situation.

Understandably, the association doesn't have a lot of money, and reimbursing the authority won't be an easy task. But the association should demonstrate good faith by planning fundraising projects aimed at raising money for that purpose.

In the meantime, any thought should be abandoned by the association and the township supervisors about tapping the township's tax coffers to help get the association off the hook.

That would be totally unacceptable.