Jan. 9--MOUNT CARMEL -- With the deadline to have a new wastewater treatment plant online fast approaching, members of the Mount Carmel Municipal Authority questioned whether or not they have the time to even consider moving the plant's location.

The deadline to meet compliance with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is Dec. 31, 2010.

"If we don't have the (timeline) issue solved, it's not moving anywhere," said authority member Carl Froutz III at Wednesday's regular authority meeting.

With the design and permitting phase nearly over, moving the project to a new location would require new permits -- something which can take some time.

Plans have been in the works since late 2007 to build a new wastewater treatment plant near the existing spot -- along Route 2034, near Den-Mar Gardens -- to serve residents of Mount Carmel Borough and Mount Carmel Township. The authority was asked by local officials in late December to consider moving the plant to a site that was proposed more than four years ago.

The site -- on Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) land near Excelsior at the west end of Mount Carmel Township, bordering Coal Township -- was included in the authority's ACT 537 plan, which was signed in 2004.

The site was ruled out when it was determined building near the existing plant would be more cost effective. The authority reported in November that the cost to build on the KOZ land would be approximately $3 million more than at the current site.

The request to move the plant was made to provide wastewater treatment for businesses moving into the Coal Township-SEEDCO Industrial Park.

"We are moving on the plan

agreed upon four years ago," said authority member Joseph Swatski.

State Rep. Robert E. Belfanti Jr., D-107, who was instrumental in the establishment of the park, said the "missing piece" of the park is the ability to treat wastewater.

Without adequate wastewater treatment, enticing companies to set up shop in the industrial park has proven difficult, Belfanti said at a meeting in late December.

He said if the treatment plant is built in the original location, there is little room for expansion because it is "boxed" in on all four sides by a highway, the existing plant, high tension wires and a spill bank.

The authority's engineer for the project, David Brinjac, of Harrisburg-based Brinjac Engineering, drafted a letter to be sent to Belfanti explaining the hurdles of changing the project at this late stage.