Evening star., 1953-07-18
Group TO Solve
Morniingsiide's
Crisis Named
Engineering and
LeeuI Stoffs in
County to Help

A committee of Prince Georges
ohicials will seek a prompt So
luton Of Morningside's sewage
problem.
Republican State Senator
John r. Fletcher, Raymond w.
Bellamy, head Of the Washing
ton, Suburban Sanitary Com
mission. and Thomas E. Lati-
mer, chairman of the county
commissioners, accepted the as
signment yesterday. Legal stats
Of both boards will cooperate.
Mr.. Bellamy also offered, en-
gineering aid and assured Morn
ingside residents that his agency
will act swiftly when the COM
mittee has cleared technical, A.
nancial and legal hurdles.
The committee was named by
Mr.. Bellamy at the end of a
three-hour conference in the
sanitary commissions Offices in
Hyattsville. Senator Fletcher,
Republican Delegate Harry E.
Taylor, jr., and Grand Jury
Foreman Ernest L. Hines at
tended the joint meeting of the
county commissioners and men,
berS Of the sanitary group.
Skip Water Problem.
Morningside's water supply
has been low recently and sew
age flows in its yards and streets.
But the confereeS made it clear
that they were concerned only
with the health menace oozing
UP from ill-functioning septic
tanks in non-abSorbent soil. The
other question was left to the
town and the private company
which supplies its water.
Harry B. Shaw, sanitary COM
mission chief engineer, said
studies Of Henson Creek Valley
indicate that it would not be
feasible to discharge even treated
sewage I11CO 1CS SIream.
The area situation could be
permanently remedied, he said,
by construction of a trunk sewer
some II miles long at a cost of
$4.5 million. Or temporary re-
lief can be given Morningside
and Skyline by intercepting
their sewage near Suitland Park
way and pumping it over a ridge
into Oxon Run or the southwest
branch of the Patuxent River.
Two Miles Away.
Sanitary commission mains at
Suitland are about two miles
from MorningSide. But because
the town is outside it's bound
aries, the agency cannot install
a sewage system there without
new legislation. It now has
authority. however, to erect a
pumping station and run a con-
Meeting line.
Senator Fletcher offered what
probably will be the first. plan
studied by the committee, which
will holds its initial meeting
next week.
He suggested that the county
float a bond issue to finance a
sewage system in Morningside
and a main to the pumping sta
tion. That would cost about
$250,000, Mr.. Shaw said. The
sanitary commission would pro-
vide an equal amount for it's
share of the work. The system
could be functioning in a year,
Mr.. Shaw estimated.
Senator Fletcher said the
county could follow that course
safely by arranging with its leg
1Slators to pass a bill bringing
the MorningSide area inside COM
mission boundaries and provid-
ing funds to reimburse the
county.
Advises Hearing First.
He cautioned against taking
any action until public hearings
have been held on any proposal
the committee may evolve. The
Senator said he has been told
that town opinion is divided on
the question of acceptance of the
necessary front-foot benefit as
sessmentS.
Mr.. Hines asked the sanitary
commission why the southern
section Of the county "has been
neglected for years. Everything
you have DONE" he said sharply,
has benefited the northern
area"
That brought a quick response
from Mr.. Bellamy. He agreed
with Mr.. Hines that the next
general metropolitan area sub
urban development will occur in
that section.
BlameS Selfish Interests
But" he declared emphati-
cally, selfish interests and not
the commission has kept our
mains from the southern Sec
tor" He did not identify the
selfish interests"
Senator Fletcher supported
that viewpoint. He recalled that
bills to extend the commisSion'S
jurisdiction southwark were
blocked in the 1947 and 1949
legislatures.
AT the same time Senator
Fletcher gave the sanitary group
a pointed lecture on the need
for long-range planning and de-
tailed public statements on cur
rent and prospective policies.
While he didn't say so direct
ly, the Senator limited that he
considers the Sanitary Commits
sion long on sincerity but short
on public relations.