Cemeteries take PWSA to court
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Some of the city's largest cemeteries are taking the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to court.
The lawyer for the Allegheny and Homewood cemeteries filed a request for a preliminary injunction against PWSA's stormwater fees.
Those charge property owners for rainwater runoff into the authority's storm sewers.
The owner of the cemeteries called the fees a backdoor tax and said the authority doesn't have the power to levy it, and there is very little runoff from their properties.
"Allegheny Cemetery and the Homewood Cemetery are unique in that they have hundreds of trees, significant green space, and they have ponds. And so, any surface runoff that is accumulated most likely flows into their ponds and not into PWSA's pipes," attorney David Wolf said.
A hearing on that injunction request is scheduled for next Thursday. PWSA said since this is pending litigation, it will not comment.