Eric Moore Email & Phone Number

After 15 years as a consulting environmental engineer I accepted the task of building the WBRA from scratch. WBRA combined four municipal sanitary sewer systems, including two old, failing wastewater treatment plants. We inherited from the old systems: four employees, two trucks that didn't run, and a consent order for infiltration and inflow removal. The first few years were hectic as we designed and built a new $35M regional treatment plant and $4M worth of collection system repairs. We invested in staff and equipment, and created innovative, regional approaches to the challenges endemic to small towns. Within six months of being given the keys to the sewer systems the local water systems lost their operators to retirement and we had to stand up as the water system operators. We built a field crew capable of repairing and replacing water and sewer infrastructure, and developed into a resource for the local community for excavation and repair. We developed a new customer assistance program in partnership with the folks at STEP, and brought a professional and fair approach to the difficult process of past-due sewer debt collection. We built our own GIS system with the help of an intern partnership with Bloomsburg University, and now host mapping data for the water and stormwater systems. Perhaps most importantly we broke the cycle of "run-to-fail" infrastructure management and created the expectation that continuous investment is needed in both the WBRA's infrastructure and its people. WBRA now stands as a professional, capable community resource with 25 employees, and I couldn't be more proud of the staff and their efforts. The regional approach, along with the support provided by PENNVEST and the PADEP, will save the WBRA customers approximately $30M over the next 30 years, which is a huge benefit for our small community.