Latrobe Municipal Authority offers to take lead on slippery subject

Latrobe Municipal Authority officials are aiming to reduce the amount of cooking fats and oils that, when disposed of improperly, clog sewerlines and pollute local waterways.

“We have to do something,” authority board member Carl “Skip” Bollinger recently told city council members. “Our main problem is the Nine Mile Run (from Unity Township) and Josephine Street, which comes from Derry Township.”

The municipal authority is offering to join with the city to help enforce existing grease trap regulations by identifying violators. Enforcement in Unity and Derry townships falls to officials in those municipalities.

The authority needs to act quickly before the grease problem gets worse, Bollinger said. Nine Mile Run meanders its way to Loyalhanna Creek, a popular top trout fishing destination.

Authority member Ellen Keefe, who also serves as Derry Township Municipal Authority secretary, said, if engineers could identify the grease in the main lines and “establish it to a point where a lot of it’s coming in” from neighboring municipalities, respective municipal authorities could possibly be billed.

“We have to identify where the grease is coming into our system from the respective municipalities,” Keefe said. “It’s only by being able to quantify that number and show them that there’s a problem that they may start paying attention to it.”

When fats and oils enter the sewer system, they harden and stick to the inner walls of pipes. Over time, as they accumulate, they cause blockages and lead to sewage backups.

According to Latrobe Municipal Authority’s Environmental Control Supervisor Christopher J. Bova, these buildups are a gradual process and “don’t happen overnight.” However, with restaurant and home grease disposal combined, Bova recommended residents be more mindful after cooking.

“When getting rid of grease or fat or oil at home, the best thing to do is to let it harden and then scrape it into the trash,” Bova said. “If it goes down the drain, it can directly affect the household piping and sewer system.”

Latrobe City Manager Terry Carcella said the city has an ordinance in place for restaurant grease disposal but is open to amending it once the situation is fully assessed.

“We have to determine where the issue is occurring,” Carcella said. “I don’t see an issue with having (the municipal authority) be an enforcing agent for the ordinance, but it’s just something the council has to discuss.”