Residents who own 158 seasonal cottages along both sides of the Susquehanna River and lease the land from Exelon power company have been non-compliant with local water and wastewater regulations, company officials said last month.
The company mailed letters June 29 to all cottage owners saying Frederick Ward Associates, a Bel Air engineering firm, was hired to inspect the cottages. The owners were in turn warned that they must cease and desist using any unpermitted water sources or sanitary systems.
Frederick Ward's inspection report, delivered June 22, said "the identification of sewage disposal methods was unclear or inaccessible at some cabins. Efforts were made to open caps where possible and track pipes where possible. However, without a clear identification of a legitimate sewage disposal system it was assumed that the sewage disposal is directed into the earth, in an uncontrolled fashion, which is not permitted by Exelon, Harford County or the State of Maryland."
Residents own the cottages and any improvements made to the properties, but Exelon owns the land under them.
The buildings are scattered along both sides of the river through four counties, Lancaster and York in Pennsylvania and Harford and Cecil in Maryland. In Harford County, they run from the area around Broad Creek to just south of the Conowingo Dam.
Vicky Will, regulatory, environmental and safety vice-president for Exelon, said in a recent interview there is no immediate ecological damage or danger to public safety, but the company hopes to ensure drinking water stays safe.
"There is no current environmental issues that we are aware of," Will said June 30, but noted the non-compliance is widespread across all the cottages.
"All of them are going to have to do something to come on board with county regulations," she said.
Exelon originally learned of the non-compliance in 2007, and wrote to cottage owners then asking for their cooperation to stop any further wastewater discharge while the company worked on resolving the issue with the county.
"Since then we have taken a series of measures to gain a better understanding of the problem," according to the most recent letter, written by project manager Andrea Danucalov.
The cottage owners have been asked to submit a compliance plan to Exelon within 30 days, by July 29. The company is also asking for all necessary work to be done within 60 days of getting a health department and county permit.
"While it has taken nearly four years, we believe we've gotten to a point that will allow most of our seasonal cottage leaseholders to enjoy indoor water use and have certain types of sanitary systems and be compliant with current environmental rules and government requirements," a fact sheet given out by Exelon said.
Will and Valencia McClure, director of power communications, explained the cottages have probably been non-compliant for a long time.
"About four years ago, working with Harford County, we became aware that over the last 80 years, people have made improvements to their land or sewer [system] that weren't approved by the county," Will said.
McClure said the company has been meeting with cottage owners periodically and did an open house last September, which had a "great" turnout.
She added many of the cottages have been around so long that the owners are not aware of the work that was done to them.
"What you find is a lot of cottages have just been handed down," she said.
Exelon has leased the recreational property along the Susquehanna River for more than 80 years, and has revised its seasonal cottage leasing policies to ensure the latest environmental rules and government requirements are addressed.
The cottage season runs from March 1 through Oct. 31 each year, and an annual seasonal cottage lease is about $2,000 per parcel.