Committee to seek alternative pollution solutions
By:John Tredrea
Concerned that annexation, by Hopewell Borough, of the 16-home King’s Path neighborhood in Hopewell Township could set a bad precedent in both municipalities, the Township Committee voted unanimously May 18 to explore new options for solving the neighborhood’s water contamination problem.
Already on the table and backed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the tactic of connecting King’s Path, located near Hopewell Borough’s eastern boundary, into the borough’s public water system.
In exchange for that public water, Hopewell Borough Council members Thomas Dallessio, Alice Huston and David Mackie have suggested that King’s Path be annexed by the borough, thus enabling the borough to continue its long-standing pattern of not extending utilities into the township, which surrounds it. The Borough Council members, who want to surround the borough with as much open space as possible, fear that extending public water to King’s Path could set a legal precedent that could enable nearby areas of the township to obtain water from the borough in the years ahead.
During the May 18 Township Committee meeting, Committeeman Robert Higgins, who is in charge of public health in the township, said he too is concerned that annexation of King’s Path by the borough “could set a precedent” that could be rued by both towns in the years ahead.
For that reason, “other options should be explored” in addition to that of connecting the neighborhood to borough water in exchange for its annexation by the borough, Mr. Higgins said. His reasoning is that the pumping action of wells in township developments that could be built near the borough in the future could draw the contamination now affecting King’s Path to new areas. “Then we could be forced to go to the well again (to ask Hopewell Borough for public water again),” he said.
Mr. Higgins has already said he backs preserving open space around the borough. His Democratic colleagues on the Township Committee — Marylou Ferrara, Kathy Bird-Maurice and Jon Edwards — also have consistently and vigorously supported preserving as much open space in the Hopewell Valley area as possible.
Possible alternatives to connecting King’s Path to borough water are a public water system for the neighborhood, or connecting the neighborhood to Elizabethtown public water, whose nearest water main runs along Province Line Road, about a mile east of the borough. Both options will be explored by Township Engineer Paul Pogorzelski. Meanwhile, Mr. Higgins said talks will continue between township and borough officials on the King’s Path problem.
Mr. Pogorzelski said a community water system for King’s Path would involve digging a new well that would be used only by that neighborhood. If the new well were located too close to King’s Path, he said, it might become contaminated by same pollutants now affecting the neighborhood. The farther away from the neighborhood the new well would be, the more expensive the new water system would be, the township engineer added, because of the additional lengths of pipe that would have to be installed.
The DEP says wells in King’s Path are contaminated with up to 500 parts per billion of TCE (tetrachlorethylene) and other volatile organic compounds linked to health problems. Homes in the neighborhood have been equipped, by the state, with filtration systems that removed the contaminants from drinking water. More than one part per billion of the contaminants is considered unsafe under state guidelines.
Noting that the sale of one King’s Path home has “already fallen through” because of the contamination problem, neighborhood resident Michael Prewitt told the committee the filtration systems “are an improvement, but they’re not foolproof and they require a lot of maintenance.”
As several of his neighbors nodded in agreement, Mr. Prewitt said he is concerned that the exploration of options other than hooking into borough water as soon as possible “might take too long.”
While taking care not to publicly accept blame or responsibility for the King’s Path problem, Rockwell Inc. has offered to the pay the cost, estimated at $350,000, of connecting the homes into borough water. A 4-acre lot adjacent to King’s Path was used as dump for many years for Rockwell. The firm manufactured water meters, taxi meters and other devices before leaving the borough about 20 years ago. The dump, two blocks from the factory, was littered with 55-gallons drums and other debris for years, officials say.
TCE and other volatile organics are commonly used in industrial solvents, also known as de-greasers.