Grease traps at Hadley eateries to get 2nd check

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on October 27, 2006

HADLEY - Many of the town's restaurants and other food establishments soon will be required to have a twice-annual inspection of their grease traps.

The Sewer Commission recently decided that employees in the Sewer Department should do random checks twice a year to make sure the grease traps are installed and working properly at places where they are mandated.

'The grease trap inspections should be done on a semi-annual basis,' said John Mieczkowski, sewer commission member.

The issue is coming up now, Mieczkowski said, because grease and other materials that are harmful to the system have been showing up at the treatment plant and at substations.

Mieczkowski said each restaurant will pay a $25 inspection fee to defray the cost of the inspection work.

A list of 92 food establishments in Hadley that may be required to be inspected was given to the Sewer Commission by Board of Health Chairman David Farnham. But Farnham said the list doesn't merely include traditional restaurants like Friendly's and Carmelina's, but also places that serve meals, such as schools, churches, the town's Senior Center and ThayerCare, and even stores that have prepackaged foods like Michael's and Pier 1 Imports.

Farnham said the commission would determine which of them qualify for regular inspections.

'It's up to them to see what's needed at these places,' Farnham said.

Meanwhile, concerns over chemicals being put into the system is leading the commission toward formulating a set of bylaws that could result in fines.

Mieczkowski said materials like degreasers, in large enough quantities, are killing bugs and bacteria that help the system to function.

The fine schedule would be modeled after those in Northampton and Deerfield and would need to be brought to voters next spring.

'We'll do what we can as a Sewer Commission, and the fines will come before Town Meeting,' Mieczkowski said.

While the commission works to maintain the integrity of the system, it is also doing a capital planning analysis and inventory of equipment and machinery to better plan for the future, Mieczkowski said.