The operator of the Green Lane/Marlborough Joint Authority (GLMJA) waste water treatment plant, Mike Martin, now faces nine years in prison and $20,000 in fines after being charged by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office.

                Martin, of the 1400 block of Markley Road in Upper Hanover Township, was charged with one count each of tampering with public records and unlawful conduct, third-degree felonies, and one count each of unsworn falsification to authorities and unlawful conduct, second-degree misdemeanors, on May 26.

                He is accused of releasing untreated and partially treated sewage into the Perkiomen Creek from the Gravel Pike, Green Lane plant, as well as submitting falsified reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). 

                Some of that released sewage allegedly came through illegal bypass equipment and nonfunctioning equipment at the plant.

                The crimes were committed periodically from March 2004 through August 2009, the state Attorney General’s office said.

                Attorney General Tom Corbett said during the same time period, Martin is accused of fabricating sampled data on the Monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports he submitted to the DEP.

                The investigation revealed that DEP laboratory test results for samples collected on various dates at the plant showed that fecal coliform, total suspended solids and residual chlorine levels exceeded the permitted limits. 

                For the same dates, the reports allegedly submitted by Martin to the DEP showed the levels were within the permitted limits.

                “The former plant operator was licensed by the Commonwealth and was expected to perform his professional duties ethically.  He violated that trust and should be held responsible for his actions,” said Marlborough Township supervisor and liaison to the GLMJA, Dr. Carl Ascoli. 

                “It becomes a very difficult task to provide oversight to a job function when basic facts and figures are manipulated or withheld.  I have confidence that the new plant operator and engineer, as well as the newly appointed board members who serve the authority, will provide both operational and financial oversight to users of the authority and residents of Green Lane borough and Marlborough Township.”

                Martin was fired from the plant along with assistant plant operator Frank Buza Sept. 21, 2009, according to the authority’s solicitor, Jill Zimmerman of Skypala Law Offices.  They were replaced by O&M Services of Kulpsville.  The authority’s consulting engineer was also replaced by the firm of Environmental Emergency Management Associates (EEMA), also of Kulpsville. 

                The authority’s board has also been changed up with multiple resignations, both voluntary and involuntary.

                Ascoli previously said Marlborough and Green Lane officials worked together to restructure the board to ensure adequate review and supervision of the authority. 

                Martin was preliminarily arraigned May 26 before District Judge Catherine Hummel-Fried of Red Hill.  He was released on $30,000 unsecured bail.  The case will go to the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas where it will be prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Brian Coffet of the Environmental Crimes section. 

                 The investigation by the DEP into the authority’s operations reportedly began this past summer.  Martin has been the only individual charged and the authority has not been fined to date.  

                The authority has obtained a commercial loan in the amount of $600,000 and is implementing the first phase of upgrades and repairs needed to the main sewer plant.  Work is being done on the flow measuring systems, chemical treatment tanks, and retention beds that will allow for the proper treatment of sewage and prevent any untreated waste from entering the waterway, Ascoli said. 

                A multi-year, three-phase $2.1 million upgrade is proposed for the system which will also include repairs to the main sewer line collection system, lateral collection lines and pump substations.  The authority is looking to obtain state funding and has secured letters of support from State Senator Bob Mensch and State Representative Marcy Toepel.

                Officials were made aware of another deficiency when a PECO Energy contractor dug and shattered a sewage pipe at Sumneytown Pike and Perkiomenville Road March 3.  GLMJA never registered the sewer system network with Pennsylvania One Call, a statewide network designed to prevent damage to underground facilities. 

                The price to replace two new pumps at the Sumneytown pumping station, which became clogged with broken pieces of that pipe, cost approximately $40,000. 

                Residents of Green Lane and Marlborough have seen an increase in their sewage bills of 51 percent to date to fund improvements.