BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer
A local watchdog group is hoping a new permit will force the Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA) to clean things up.
Effective this month, the MCUA is no longer working under conditions outlined in its last wastewater treatment plant permit, which was issued in 1992 and allowed for limited wastewater discharge into the Raritan Bay. Though permits are generally renewed every five years, challenges to the previous permit and a water quality study delayed the renewal by eight years.
With the new permit, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is requiring the MCUA to further restrict what is discharged into the Raritan, and to look at alternatives to discharge, including effluent reuse and extension of the outfall of the bay. Currently, 147 million gallons of industrial and residential waste are permitted to be discharged daily into the bay after being treated for contaminants.
According to a press release issued by NY/NJ Baykeeper, a conservation and advocacy program for the Hudson-Raritan estuary, MCUA’s new discharge permit limits more than a dozen toxic pollutant parameters, including dissolved oxygen, suspended solids, oil and grease, mercury and fecal coliform. These must be removed before the wastewater can be discharged into the bay.
Debbie Mans, policy director for Baykeeper, said she is hoping the MCUA will take a serious look at alternatives for the treated wastewater. Known as gray water reuse, these alternatives can include irrigation and the cleaning of roadways, she said.
“It’s not something you’d want to drink, but it’s not the worst stuff in the world,” she said. “This type of innovative thinking is what we think should be happening with this facility.”
Mans questioned the MCUA’s decision to challenge the permit again, as well as the discharge effect on shellfish harvesters that use the Raritan Bay.
“MCUA’s discharge effectively closes down one-quarter of the Raritan Bay to shellfish harvesting,” she said. “That is unacceptable and we commend the DEP for trying to do something about it. Unfortunately, MCUA does not think this is a concern.”
Tony Cicatiello, a spokesman for the MCUA, said investigations into alternative uses for the wastewater are being taken seriously, and the challenge to the new permit is mostly a procedural process.
“There are 750,000 customers serviced by the MCUA,” he said. “Anytime we have changes in the process, we have to think about the costs, because they are the people paying for it.”
Cicatiello said the MCUA’s annual budget for the wastewater division alone is $67 million, which is funded by those customers.
“So you challenge [the permit],” he added. “It’s not that you’re not going to [follow the new guidelines], but these are things that have to be discussed in more detail.”
Cicatiello said he was taken aback by some of the statements made by members of the Baykeeper organization accusing the MCUA of harming the shellfish harvesting in the Raritan Bay.
“The MCUA came about because everyone was dumping into the rivers,” he said. “There were no rules or regulations. The MCUA has throughout the years provided the kind of cleanup that has allowed the shellfish industry to grow again.”
Whether the MCUA is helping or hurting the bay, Baykeeper representatives say they just want to know that the new permit, which runs through May 2010, will be adhered to.
“The highest and best use of the Raritan Bay is not as a dumping ground for MCUA’s outfall pipe,” said Andrew Willner, executive director for Baykeeper. “[They] have an obligation as a responsible ‘discharger’ neighbor to reduce its impact on a resource we all share in common.”
In addition to Middlesex County, the MCUA serves parts of Somerset and Union counties.