Discussions to install a trash interceptor in the Middle Spring stream began Tuesday at the Shippensburg Borough Council meeting, but its members were reluctant to move forward until they could learn more about it.

Blyden Potts, the acting president of the Middle Spring Watershed Association, said the organization along with volunteers pull 12 to 30 bags of trash from the stream every year, during the community's Stream Awareness Day. A trash interceptor, which could cost more than $100,000, would catch trash at a single point with a net or grate as it moves downstream. Without an interceptor, the trash either gets caught in natural barriers or is carried away with the stream's current to neighboring communities.

"I think the idea has merit, but I don't want to commit to anything," said councilperson Joe Hockersmith. "If there is some way we can figure out how to be part of the solution, then we should."

Community members remove a wide variety of trash from the stream, including cigarette butts, shopping bags, food wrappers, automotive parts, appliances and furniture, according to Potts.

"Some of those items have been in the stream a while," Potts said. "But there's lots of new trash every year unfortunately, and it takes a lot of work to remove it."

The council supported the notion to improve the stream, but had several concerns, including the cost of installation and maintenance, who would be responsible for removing the trash and the possibility the interceptor would clog the stream and cause flooding.

Andrea Lage, the borough council president, said she is concerned that someone would have to clear out the interceptor in the event the trash backs up the current and causes a flood. She said she wanted to know if there is another method that is cheaper and easier to implement.

The three types of interceptors Potts proposed included a metal and concrete grate, a bandalong trash trap and a boom with a net that stretches the length of the stream. The grates are probably too expensive for the borough, making the cheaper booms one of the more feasible choices, according to Potts.

Potts said there are three prime locations to install an interceptor: downstream of Hot Point Avenue, upstream of Hot Point Avenue and behind the Shippensburg Wastewater Treatment Plant. Because the locations are in Shippensburg Township and not the borough, Potts said he would take the idea up with the township and continue to gather more information.

The council agreed to wait for the township's response, hear input from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and learn more about trash interceptors before deciding to act. Potts said that his main goal on Tuesday was to start a conversation and listen to the borough's thoughts.

"Anything that improves the quality of the stream I am in favor of, " Hockersmith said. "I think [the stream] is a real resource that is underestimated in this community."

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