"When a powerful storm unleashed 2 inches of rain on Allentown over six hours last summer, that water didn't just saturate lawns, flood roads and dampen basements. It also filled storm sewers with cascading water that blew the tops off manholes along the bloated sewage collection system."

"Before long, a cocktail of storm water and raw sewage spewed from a busted manhole on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and flowed into the Little Lehigh Creek for more than 12 hours in June 2012, the city later reported to state environmental regulators.

It's the type of event that has repeated itself over and over in the city and across western Lehigh County for years, threatening drinking water sources for Allentown and its suburbs."

Patrick Lester reports for the Allentown (PA) Morning Call September 7, 2013. [2]