Shown is a pallet of bottled water that Superior Management Solutions dropped off in the park.

A deadline set by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has passed without a required permit application being filed for the water system at Masons Mobile City Trailer Park.

Issued on April 7, the DEP ordered operators of Masons park water system to submit a completed permit application within 45 days explaining how they would meet the state’s water treatment requirements. The deadline for this application to be filed was May 22. As of the time of writing this article, no permit application has been filed.

The April 7 order followed months of documented violations involving the park’s drinking water system. This included the failure to monitor for arsenic, unauthorized system modifications, and deteriorating equipment.

Residents in the park have now spent 188 days, more than six months, under drinking water restrictions. The upper section of the park remains under a Boil Water Advisory while residents in the lower section remain under a Do Not Consume order. These orders were first issued on November 21, 2025. The lower section was under a Boil Water Notice prior to their Do Not Consume order. That boil notice was issued February 19, 2025, over one year ago. That is 463 days.

Feb. 19, 2025 is also when the DEP believes the treatment system was fully bypassed, according to a spokesman for the department. The spokesman said that data related to disinfectant levels in the water suggest that the required treatment system has not been operating since that date.

The order required extensive corrective actions, including permit submissions, construction upgrades, ongoing testing, bottled water distribution for affected residents, and monthly reporting requirements.

While residents continue to live under these water restrictions, members of the community and local businesses have stepped in to help provide emergency water supplies.

Pennsylvania American Water furnished a water buffalo, which was placed at Napoli Pizza in North Warren. The water buffalo holds 750 gallons of water. The water for the water buffalo was furnished by Blackout Tint and Detail in Warren.

Prior to the water buffalo, more than 1,700 gallons of bottled water had been collected by the community, including residents of Wilderness Park, also operated by Superior Communities. The water was distributed by Napoli Pizza, who also delivered water with their delivery drivers when they made pizza deliveries to the park.

Residents interviewed described recurring water main breaks, extended periods without water service, and fears about speaking publicly due to possible retaliation or eviction. Several residents said they felt trapped because of rising lot rents, the cost of relocating mobile homes, and a lack of affordable housing options here in Warren County.

The DEP order stated that the violations constituted a public nuisance under Pennsylvania law and also warned that civil penalties could result if the violations were not corrected.

When asked for a statement, Superior Management Solutions ownership issued the following statement: “The latest update we can share is that after the previously engaged engineering firm that was supposed to be working on the project over the winter time so that we could meet the deadline of filing the permit, replied they could no longer handle the project with being too overwhelmed with workload (possibly due to the increased attention and scrutiny on the matter), so we then immediately found and engaged a new engineering firm and paid them a $10,000 retainer fee.

“The newly engaged engineering firm has stated they are committed to working as quickly as possible to get all necessary info compiled and work to come up with the best long term solution. A permit will be filed once the best long term system design solution is determined, as it cannot be submitted without the engineered plans, that also meet all DEP requirements, in order to be approved.

“They recently completed a file review to get all currently available info from DEP and also completed an on site visit to gather additional information on existing well systems.

We are not engineers or licensed operators, so we are here to support those who are and will be ready to accept, support and invest into whatever is the best proposed solution that will provide reliable and quality water service for the residents long term.

“In the meantime, we have been providing bottled water to the few residents on the Do Not Drink notice as required. And we have also recently voluntarily been providing bottled water to all remaining residents on the Boil Water advisory.

“And we will continue to provide bottled water to all affected residents until the well system improvement project is completed. This is to show our care and commitment to our residents.”

According to residents, no water was delivered until after the DEP required it in their order. Jeff News obtained a photo of their latest water delivery, which is sitting on a pallet after a week outside in the rain and then the heat.

The missed permit deadline now raises questions about compliance with the state enforcement order and how quickly these crucial repairs can move forward while residents continue living under water restrictions.

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