Courier articles about Sunrise Lake are misleading and inaccurate

Editor's note The following letter, dated March 30, is addressed to all Sunrise Lake Property Owners Association:

Recently there have been articles in the Pike County Courier that are inaccurate and misleading.
When the POA was formed in July of 2009, the management of the Sewer and Well Associations was transferred to the POA by the land developer. These Sewer and Well Associations are owned by the property owners who use them including all the plumbing, wells, and sewer absorption mounds. At the time of the transfer of management of these sewer and well associations nothing was disclosed by the developer as to the condition of the systems. The POA has been very proactive with regards to these systems, upgrading and rebuilding sewer mounds, replacing well pumps and water storage tanks, repairing any broken pipe lines and continuous monitoring of the systems. There have always been at least two owners that are on one of the Sewer and Well Associations, on the POA Board of Directors.
In 2011 the mandatory pumping of the solid waste holding tanks for all owners on the section systems was instituted. Tanks must be inspected and/or pumped every three years.
In 2013 pumping of solid waste holding tanks every three years was mandatory for all property owners in Sunrise Lake.
The articles recently printed in the Pike County Courier have many inaccurate statements that were made by an unnamed resident.
The absorption mound in section 9 was shut off by the POA because it was not functioning properly. The DEP did not order it shut down as was stated in the Courier. Also DEP never said to the POA that the location was unacceptable or that the mound cannot be rebuilt.
An email received from Colleen Connolly, Community Relations Coordinator for DEP, states: "I would like to clarify that: DEP has not issued any violations to Sunrise Lake Estates for sewage issues nor did the department take any water samples from the property. The local sewage enforcement officer from Dingman Township has issued some violations and took water samples for testing. The DEP is working with Sunrise Lake Estates officials and township officials to remedy the problems with the sewage mound.”
At this time we are working with a soil engineer who has taken soil samples of the mound and is preparing a report with his suggestions of how to remedy the situation and meet DEP standards.
The POA has not received any complaints from the township regarding any lake or soil contamination as is stated in the Courier articles. The information in these Courier articles was supplied by an anonymous resident who is identified in a later statement in the article as the resident with the pending lawsuit.
There have been no other complaints of any soil or water pollution to our knowledge filed with the township or State DEP.
Talking with Chris Wood, the Dingman Township SEO, he said that the system pre-dates his tenure as SEO and that he cannot testify as to what took place at the time the mounds were built. However, based on the record and his discussions with DEP he has found that a DEP regional soil scientist, a DEP sanitarian, the township SEO, a private soil scientist and a private hydro-geologist were all involved in testing of the site. The site would not have been permitted if the soils were classified as wetlands. The Township SEO Chris Wood also states that the township has no reports of tainted wells from anyone in Sunrise Lake other than the property owner who filed the complaint. The test report provided by the property owner did not show results indicative of sewage contamination. However, the property owner, the resident who contacted Chris Wood, claims he has other testing reports that are indicative of contamination but has yet to send them to the Township.
On March 23, 2016 Prosser Labs tested water samples from Section 9 well #1 and Sunrise Lake and there are no pollutants or contamination found in either Section 9 well #1 or Sunrise Lake.
The Board Of Directors would like to thank the volunteers who helped get this mailing out to all the residents. Unfortunately because of all the inaccurate and misleading statements published in the Pike County Courier the POA was forced to send out this mailing to correct those statements at a cost of over $600.
Although we are in litigation with Mr. Cordua and his wife, if anyone has any other questions about articles written in any of the newspapers please call the office and we will try to do our best to address any concerns.
Thank you,
The Board Of Directors Sunrise Lake POA
101 Sunrise Drive
Milford, PA 18337
Phone: 570-686-1880
www.sunriselake.org