At the East Allen Township Board of Supervisors meeting Sept. 12, a local resident brought up concerns about a permit request by Keystone Cement from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Keystone is requesting it be allowed to expand and to dig deeper into its quarry. Expanding the quarry is going to take additional water. According to the permit, Keystone withdraws 7 million gallons a day (MGD) for its operations. The existing permit allows the company to withdraw up to 12 MGD. The new permit would increase the withdrawal to 16.5 MGD.

The concern is that there are several shallow wells in the area. The increase in the permit could draw down the aquifer that supplies the water possibly 25 feet. Local wells might be impacted - especially during droughts.

The permit does address that dewatering is possible. Dewatering is defined as the well drying up for a period of time. The solution for homeowners would be to bring in bottled water that would be paid for by the company. The long-term solution is to drill a deeper well, which is costly.

There are other considerations as water tables are lowered. Water that is not free flowing tends to collect microorganisms that would need to be checked. There are testing systems to verify the purity of water, but most homeowners do not test on a regular basis.

A question that needs to be addressed is that the new permit may necessitate providing public water and sewer because the local aquifer is compromised.

There are small public water systems in the area. The privately owned public water systems are regulated by the DEP and serve small communities. These are usually seen in mobile home parks, small industrial communities and residential developments. Dewatering small public water systems puts the entire community without water. Because these are regulated systems, installing a new system is a complicated process requiring a lengthy list of approvals. Typically, approvals for a new water system will take one to two years.

Supervisors Chairman Roger Unangst has asked township Manager Brent Green to set up a special meeting that would be open to the public and include all involved parties. The date of the meeting had not been set by press time.