in high levels in Raritan and Sandy Hook
Fecal coliform present
in high levels in Raritan and Sandy Hook
By jennifer dome
& brian donahue
Staff Writers
JEFF GRANIT Nelson Porcugal (l), a foreman with Cruz Construction, Holmdel, looks over the sewer pipeline Tuesday morning that was reopened that night after nine days of repair work. The Raritan River, which has received millions of gallons of sewage due to the pipeline rupture, is in the background.
A sewage pipe break that sent an estimated 570 million gallons of raw sewage into the Raritan River over a period of nine days was finally sealed Tuesday and the discharge was stopped.
But in its wake, environmentalists are trying to assess the damage, shellfish beds remain closed, and both government and environmental officials are asking questions about how such an event could have happened and how it could be prevented from happening again.
Though a standby pipe, smaller than the 102-inch main that ruptured, was used to divert most of the sewage to a pumping station, a stream of an estimated 84 million gallons a day was discharged into the Raritan River. Construction crews hired by the Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA) worked around the clock since the March 2 breakage at the foot of Boehmhurst Avenue to repair the pipe and contain the sewage.
MCUA Executive Director Richard Fitamant said yesterday that initial cost estimates for the pipeline repairs and related work were between $750,000 and $1 million. The authority used two primary contractors and a number of subcontractors in reacting to the situation.
JEFF GRANIT The 102-inch pipe that ruptured, causing millions of gallons of sewage to leak, reopened Tuesday.
"We have no idea what the long-term environmental threat will be," said Robert Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association. The grassroots environmental organization, through its own water sampling, found "extremely high levels of fecal coliform" in the river.
Natural resource damages are expected to be significant, as the discharge included a combination of raw sewage and industrial waste, according to the organization.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has closed shellfish beds in the Raritan and Sandy Hook bays, as well as in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers. According to the DEP, harvesting activities are banned until further notice since public health could be affected.
The DEP’s most recent water sampling results, taken March 8, indicated that fecal coliform levels remained elevated in the eastern and western portions of the Raritan Bay, and that the impacts of the sewage spill have spread into Sandy Hook Bay, the Navesink River and the Shrewsbury River.
In Sandy Hook Bay, tests for fecal coliform showed 1,100 parts per 100 milliliters — well above the FDA’s health standard of 88 parts in shellfish harvest areas.
Levels found in the Raritan River in the days after the sewage began pouring into it were from 2,400 to 4,600 parts. In the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers, levels were between 23 and 42 parts, but they exceed the standard of 14 parts for "seasonal waters," where shellfish can be sold in the winter directly to the marketplace without being purified at a plant.
Sampling by the DEP was expected to continue indefinitely.
DEP spokeswoman Amy Cradic said it has been difficult to determine how long the shellfish harvest areas would remain closed.
Raritan Riverkeeper Bill Schultz said that non-dissolved solids now at the bottom of the seaways are expected to be consumed by bacteria in warmer weather, resulting in oxygen-deficient areas on the bottoms of the western bay and rivers and thus leading to fish kills — possibly at the time of the spring migrations of shad, blue-backed herring, striped bass, blue claw crab and other sea life.
Schultz questioned whether the salt water sea life that swims up rivers to fresh water to lay eggs will be able to get through water with no food or oxygen. He said one suggested action is the aeration of the river and bay waters in areas prone to collecting sediments.
"I’m having a problem finding anyone who has had to deal with a spill of this magnitude into a river system that has the flows of the Raritan and was in a recovery mode," Schultz said in trying to determine the long-term affects. "So I have to believe that the DEP and MCUA are also shooting from the hip, so to speak, as to the long-term effects from this specific spill. We can safely say that it is not irreparable, but how long to get back to where we were is a question."
Some 25 residential properties on Boehmhurst Avenue and Sixth Street were flooded by the sewer line break on the morning of March 2.
Borough officials were looking at the possibility of recovering damage costs for residents and for the cost incurred by the borough’s emergency service personnel.
At the time of the break, the MCUA said, the 102-inch sewage pipeline released "significant sewage outflows" onto Boehmhurst Avenue and Sixth Street until the borough’s emergency officials built a dike at the end of the street to divert the flow away from the residents.
The MCUA also switched the sewage flow to a different line in order to reduce the flow from the damaged pipe and limit the amount of sewage entering the Raritan River.
Letters were issued to residents by the MCUA and the county health department about the consequences of the sewage pipeline break.
The MCUA said the use of tap water is completely safe, and since the sewage and water systems are two separate pipelines, there is no effect on the water quality in the borough.
The MCUA applied lime to the area affected by the sewage leak in order to neutralize the bacteria and fertilize the grass. The application of lime was a precautionary measure, since the sewage carried in the broken pipe had been through a sifting process and was further diluted by rainfall.
Officials with the MCUA said the break was caused by increased pressure, but the exact reason remained to be determined.
"At the time of the rupture, there was some lightning, there was heavy rain, and there were power fluctuations at the pumping station," Fitamant said, noting that the entire situation would be evaluated to determine the exact cause of the rupture.
"At this point, we’re thinking it was simply an act of God, and we would have no control over that. If there is a way to control the releases or add engineering controls, if we can find what the problem is, it will certainly be implemented," he said.
Middlesex County Freeholders Director David B. Crabiel praised the MCUA’s efforts in "doing everything possible" to address the problem and get the larger main back in service.
"It’s a serious problem, and we obviously didn’t foresee it happening," Crabiel said. "It’s a tragic event that will have to be analyzed so that it doesn’t happen again."
Andrew J. Willner, the Raritan Baykeeper with the American Littoral Society, was present at work on the pipeline near Sheffield Mews on Tuesday and said that the fishing industry, particularly clammers, could face huge losses because of the leak.