Two months ago the Lancaster County Commissioners adopted a sweeping plan that emphasizes preserving the county's remaining woodlands and open spaces and creating a network of "greenway" trails.

Lancaster City now wants to create its own "green infrastructure" plan, but the city's focus is much narrower.

Lancaster City Council members on Tuesday approved an application for a $71,000 grant to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to develop a green infrastructure plan.

The plan would identify ways that the city could reduce air and water pollution, such as planting more trees and paving with porous surfaces that would reduce rainwater run-off.

The true focus of the plan, however, is a single environmental problem: city sewage system overflows into the Conestoga River.

The city has an old system that combines rainwater from streetside gutters with sanitary sewage for treatment. Current standards call for separate systems. During severe storms, the city's treatment facilities are overwhelmed and untreated overflow from the system goes into the river.

Last fall, the city received a letter from the federal Environmental Protection Agency asking for a plan to address the problem. The city has until September to submit a "long-term control plan" for the overflows.

Finding a solution for the stormwater/sewer system overflows would be included in the "green infrastructure" plan, said Charlotte Katzenmoyer, the city's Public Works director.

"The more we do proactively, the better off we are," Katzenmoyer said of doing the planning.

Lancaster wants to avoid having to operate its stormwater/sewer system under a consent order from the EPA, as Baltimore and Pittsburgh now do, said Katzenmoyer.

Previously, city officials announced plans to seek federal stimulus funding to construct an underground storage tank that would hold overflows until the sewage could be treated. Such a system is estimated to cost as much as $70 million.

Lancaster officials plan to work with the non-profit group Lancaster Investment in a Vibrant Economy, or LIVE, and the Lancaster County Planning Commission to draft the plan.

If state funding is approved, development of the plan is expected to take about a year.


Staff writer Bernard Harris can be reached at bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022.