By KRISTA GROMALSKI

LACKAWAXEN TOWNSHIP - According to Sally Jones of the Pike County Conservation District (PCCD), Pine Forest Camp has been legally disposing of waste from its sewerage treatment plant into the Greeley Watershed for more than ten years. The camp has a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) allowing the practice.

Greeley Lake is its own watershed within the larger Shohola Creek Watershed, Jones said.

Mark Carmon, community relations coordinator for the DEP, said the camp's permit is part of a federally administered program consisting of two parts including discharge and treatment.

"No one has any bigger concern about the water than us," said Ron Schmalzle of Pine Forest Camp. "We conduct our lakeside programs on the lake."

Recently a Greeley resident expressed concern to Jones over the mass of aquatic vegetation in the lake, prompting Jones to request further investigation, she said. Leonard Nawrocki of the DEP performed a field visit to the camp and at TRR press time Carmon said the department was gathering information on that inspection.