Pennsylvania DEP to Take Over Allegheny County Drinking Water Inspections
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) announced that effective Feb. 1, 2018, DEP’s safe drinking water program will resume inspection responsibilities for the 66 public drinking water systems in Allegheny County.
Since the mid-1980s, implementation of the safe drinking water program was shared between DEP and ACHD, with ACHD performing inspections and DEP conducting permitting and major enforcement actions. Except for Erie County restaurant water supply oversight, no other county health departments in the state have retained inspection responsibilities for public drinking water systems.
Now, through DEP-wide efforts to increase the number of sanitarians responsible for inspections of public water systems, the Southwest Region of DEP has the capacity to handle safe drinking water inspection obligations in Allegheny County.
“DEP regularly evaluates current and past practices to best serve the public,” said DEP Southwest Regional Director Ron Schwartz. “While this is a change for drinking water systems in Allegheny County, this decision reinforces our commitment to safe drinking water.”
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