West Elizabeth Sanitary Authority Receives Deficiency Letter on Permit Renewal

In November 2025, Three Rivers Waterkeeper submitted comments to the PA Department of Environmental Protection regarding concerns over West Elizabeth Sanitary Authority (WESA)’s permit application to renew their Major Sewage Facility permit. WESA discharges in the Monongahela River in West Elizabeth (Allegheny County). 

Some of the concerns in our comment:

• WESA failed to identify all facilities that they receive industrial wastewater from as the permit application only mentions one active facility

  • WESA’s annual Municipal Waste Load Management Report (Chapter 94) indicated that they were taking wastewater from multiple industrial facilities
    

• WESA failed to sample for all parameters known in their industrial wastewater contributions

  • WESA conducted sampling for standard pollutants for their renewal application, but did not identify and sample for the additional pollutants known to be in the industrial wastewater they are receiving
    

In December 2025, following the comments submitted by Three Rivers Waterkeeper, the PA DEP issued a deficiency letter to WESA. The requests made were the direct result of our submitted comments.

Changes Requested:

• Updated permit application that correctly documents all industrial users and additional pollutants of concern

• Effluent and influent sampling for the following four pollutants:

  • Styrene

  • Total Xylenes

  • 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene

  • 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene