NCCo trying to collect on sewer plant repairs

New Castle County is at odds with a developer it says cost it millions by neglecting a failing wastewater treatment facility and forcing the government to take over.

A proposed order by Delaware's Public Service Commission calls on Bass Properties, Inc., which built Lea Eara Farms near Middletown in the 1990s, to reimburse the county for half a million dollars it spent managing and repairing the facility.

County Attorney Gregg Wilson said the government took over the system after Bass "abandoned" it in 2008, compelled to do so to protect the welfare of the 282 households the system serves.

Wilson said that Bass - which now is owned by Joseph Capano - has indicated it could declare bankruptcy if forced to reimburse the county. The Community News could not immediately reach Bass attorney Adam Balick for confirmation.

"[Bass] declaring bankruptcy certainly makes it more difficult," Wilson said. "But if they do, we will take steps to protect our interests."

In 2009, the county spent $545,327 to bring the facility up to standards after it was cited by state environmental regulators for multiple shortcomings.

Then the price tag got even higher this winter as freezing temperatures and snow

prevented spray irrigation there, forcing sludge to pile up in the facility's lagoons.To protect against an overflow, sewer workers called an audible in the middle of a February storm and hauled truckloads of waste to a nearby pump station in Middletown for disposal over a three week period. Middletown ultimately charged the county $1.1 million for managing that sewage, which totaled 1.9 million gallons.

The county has an agreement with Middletown to use the city's wastewater treatment facility for some of the sewage generated south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. The emergency discharge put New Castle County over the capacity levels agreed to previously, however, prompting the bill.

Wilson said the county would have had to purchase that additional capacity in the future anyway, as more homes come online in the southern sewer service area, so the county is not seeking reimbursement for that payment.

"We've essentially pre-paid for future homes to come on-line," said Regis Yurcich of the county's Special Services Department.

But more work could be necessary at Lea Eara, and officials want to know how it's going to be paid for.

"The responsibility as we sit here today goes back to the developer which had deep pockets but is now walking away," said Councilman George Smiley (D-New Castle).

How Bass got the approval for a private system to begin with have many in New Castle County baffled. The Lea Eara Farms plan was approved more than two decades ago, however, and nobody seems to know why it was allowed.

"It was a decision made in the late 1980s prior to the county taking a strong position and passing a law saying the county would be the sole entity responsible for sewer," said Assistant County Attorney Dorey Cole.