Today, Kline's Island is synonymous with the sewer plant. It wasn't always that way. Originally, like Adam's Island, it was owned by a family, and had houses. It was the location of the first bridges across the Lehigh, being the narrowest point. Allentown doesn't have a good history with the environment. Besides allowing the Wildland's Conservancy to actually defile our park system with their inappropriate, token science fair projects, we're not much for islands. The sewer plant on Kline's will soon be transferred to the Lehigh County Authority. Far worse for the previous island, we are allowing a company to build a trash to energy plant, which will mix imported garbage and sewage into pellets to burn. This project isn't energy driven, but rather motivated by tax credits and finance. Allentown is the only community which was receptive to such such an environmental frankenstein.
The top photo shows Kline's Island in 1939, when it was still an island. Allentown decided that Kline's would be a good spot to use as a fill dump, and filled in the entire western channel of the former island. Please join me in my efforts to save the small historic Robin Hood dam on the Little Lehigh. Believe me, Allentown City Hall doesn't know best.
above reprinted from June 5, 2013
ADDENDUM OCTOBER 15, 2018.
The public trash to private cash plant on the island was never built. If it was, it may have been part of the Pawlowski corruption trial. Unfortunately, the small Robin Hood Dam was demolished by the Wildlands Conservancy, and its rubble piled around the formally picturesque stone bridge piers. It's five years later, and this blog continues to fight against the sacred cows, and for the traditional park system.ADDENDUM JUNE 4, 2025: Although I remain an outlaw at City Hall, I still get back channel calls when some official needs to know something about the parks or city history. That arrangement is OK by me, and I keep their privacy. I still patrol the streets and parks, and don't hesitate to speak out on this blog.
Mike how come n9 one ever talks about the blended water being piped back to the drinking water when water levels are low like last year? Can you look in to that and come up with the allowable ppm when this takes place?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your attention to the parks and the public assets that are being decimated and destroyed all the while using the price of the poisonous water.
anon@6:21: To my limited knowledge, Schantz spring is the main source, supplemented by the Little Lehigh if necessary. A sewer line does run along the creek in the parkway, and that line does overflow in sever storms. Hopefully on those occasions, no water from the creek is used. No, I will not look in to it., I already have enough concerns. :)
DeleteMM - I believe there is also an intake line on the Lehigh, upstream from Klines Island, that is also used. So there are actually 3 potential sources.
DeleteYes we always hear about the focus on the environment, yet in most cities their sewage plant is always situated on the river, a convenient place to get rid of overflows, heavy rain and other problems with the sewage plant.
ReplyDeleteThis was the policy in the past but new ideas on how to deal with sewage have emerged years ago, but we see little effort to change direction. I suspect if this was a private sector operation, like steel or foundries, the mandates would force bankruptcy.
Ray @7:10: I know this to be the case in several cities. Here in Pa., the DEP concerns itself with dams and riparian buffers, but stays quiet on sewage.
DeleteOnce, yet again, the government fails to follow it's own regulations. Ray is correct as they would keep pushing even if the end result would be bankruptcy... our grubermint really doesn't give a rat's rump about we the people, whom they force to bankroll their financial follies.
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