Date: Fri 03-Nov-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

sewers-drilling-trees-Main

Full Text:

Sewer Drilling Technique May Help Save Trees

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

A specialized drilling technique similar to one sometimes used to extract

petroleum from oil fields may be the way to install sanitary sewers for the

east side of Main Street while protecting the stately trees on that side of

the thoroughfare.

Peter Grose, sewering project director for Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the town's

consulting engineers, told Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) members

October 26 that "directional drilling" looks very promising from a cost

standpoint in terms of installing sewers on the east side of Main Street,

according to WPCA records.

In recent weeks and months, WPCA members have been reconsidering where sewers

to serve the east side of the street should be installed: beneath the grassy

areas in front of houses; beneath the northbound land of the street; or

beneath some combination of the grassy areas and the northbound lane. A

separate sewer line will serve the west side of the street.

Directional drilling involves digging pits for the positioning of drilling

equipment. Drilling rigs placed in the pits then create small tunnels for the

placement of sewer pipes. The technique is used to minimize the excavation

needed for sewer installation and thus limit the damage done to tree roots.

Such drilling techniques are used in oil fields to maximize petroleum

extraction.

Public concern over where sewers should be installed revolves around

minimizing the amount of root damage which would be done to the trees along

the street.

While directional drilling typically isn't used for installing gravity-powered

sewers, it could be used in this case to install sewer mains and sewer hookup

lines to houses, according to Mr Grose.

Fuss and O'Neill will collect information on the directional drilling

technique, including the size of the pits which would need to dug, the

location of those pits, and the cost of such work. The data will be presented

to the WPCA for its review.

WPCA Chairman Peter Alagna asked that a firm which does directional drilling

work make a presentation to the WPCA soon.

Loan Program

In another matter, a WPCA subcommittee has been meeting to review procedures

for town participation in a state low-cost loan program intended to help

property owners outside the area to be sewered make repairs to their failing

septic systems.

The subcommittee recommends that the WPCA earmark money in its 1996-97 budget

for town staff to implement the loan program.

Under the program, the state provides subsidized loans to property owners to

help them correct septic system problems, provided that the homeowners meet

the criteria for participation. The loan program would be an aspect of the

town's ongoing $30.4-million sewer system installation project.

In other business, the WPCA's sewer assessment subcommittee plans to meet with

the finance committee of the Legislative Council soon. John Valente of

Lesher-Glendinning Municipal Services will be present at the session to

present documents explaining his methodology and assumptions in developing

appraisal figures for sewer assessments. The meeting may take place on

November 15.

WPCA members maintain the standard sewer assessment for homes with up to four

bedrooms should be set at $9,600. Members of the Legislative Council's finance

committee, however, have said the assessment should be set higher, possibly at

$11,200, or $11,500.

The sewer assessment is the amount of money that a property owner with access

to sewers will have to pay the town across a 20-year period to cover sewer

construction costs.

Also at the October 26 session, WPCA members postponed action on a request

from the Walnut Tree Village condominium complex on Walnut Tree Hill Road to

allow it to connect to the town sewer system.

Action on the sewer connection request is expected soon.