Bell Acres Upset Over Environmental, Code Violations

The state Department of Enviromental Protection has suspended a recreation project in Bell Acres due to ongoing environmental violations, and Bell Acres Council now may suspend its grading permit for the project as well.

 on Monday night directed Solicitor Robert Junker to send a letter to the Quaker Valley Recreation Association, a community-based organization involved with the development of Legacy Fields at Bouchard Family Park at the intersection of Camp Meeting Road and Fern Hollow Road.

The project involves a partnership of the recreation association and the Quaker Valley School District to build new athletic fields, according to QVRA's website.

In the letter, Bell Acres officials plan to ask project leaders to attend next month’s council meeting to explain how the violations of water-pollution regulations occurred and why those issues haven't been addressed.  

“Personally, I’ve about had it,” Council President Dennis Young said.

“I’ve about had it, also,” said Councilman Chris Abell, who drafted the letter.

In April, Allegheny County Conservation District watershed specialists sent a certified letter to recreation association President Tim Felt, saying that an April 4 inspection found earthmoving activities at the park to be in “continued violation” of state environmental rules and regulations, including the Clean Streams Law.

The DEP has delegated the Pittsburgh-based conservation district to investigate and inspect land developments to make sure all work complies with  storm water discharge regulations and other laws.

In the inspection report, the DEP cited 11 violations, most involving retention pond issues. Malfunctioning or incorrectly installed devices that should have been redirecting runoff instead were discharging sediment or other pollutants downstream into Little Sewickley Creek. That created the potential for water pollution, according to the report.

DEP's letter names Felt and Gibsonia-based RA Glancy and Sons as the responsible parties. The DEP ordered the recreation association to stop all work at the site until it completes 11 remediation measures needed to comply with regulations.

Felt said QVRA has invested a great deal of time communicating with the DEP on a frequent basis, using the department's guidance to work through "some of the worst weather conditions experienced by our area in decades."

"What is not documented is that we have already found most if not all of the same problems and we are working  to correct them as soon as weather permits.  This is why the items they identify are often resolved prior to our even receiving their report.  Those that weren’t resolved were largely due to the extreme flooding or drought conditions we have experienced over the past 14 months. 

"When we finally get a break in the weather, we move quickly.  Thankfully, the past 30 days have provided us with the necessary weather to address all the issues," Felt said.   

The recreation association has been working to develop the recreational space for fall and summer sports and has been raising funds for the multimillion dollar project. Once completed, the field will include a WPIAL-sanctioned baseball complex and several baseball, softball and multipurpose fields.

Bell Acres issued a grading permit to the recreation group more than a year ago and waived the associated fees because the volunteer-driven project will benefit  local youth, Young said.  But that intention doesn’t negate the group's bending of the rules, he said.

When DEP officials returned to reinspect the site on May 26, not much remediation work had been performed, Young said. 

"The majority of the same problems were still there," Young said.

Young said the group also put up a building on the property without obtaining a building permit from the borough, even after a code enforcement officer warned builders to stop the work.

Neighboring residents also were told they would be informed of any new developments, but Young said they have received no such correspondence.

Dale Steigerwald, who lives next to the ballfield, attended Monday's council meeting. He said he's had no contact with project leaders since last year.

“[Neighborhood residents] don’t know what’s going to happen next, and that’s not fair to them,” Young said.

Felt said there were private contractors and developers driven by the profit motive that had to be kept in check. Felt said QVRAhas a larger mission to servethe community and to protect the environment within the community in which its members and neighbors live.  

"We are a not-for-profit that has followed a mandate of doing whatever is necessary to make sure we protect the watershed, the Bell Acres Community and this site which will finally solve a 40-year problem in the 11 boroughs served by the QV school district – the lack of adequate field space for children to play." 

Bell Acres plans to send the letter to Felt and other officials involved with the project in an effort to straighten out the matter. If the group isn't meeting its requirements, council may revoke the grading permit.

“Ultimately, what we want is action,” Abell said.