By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
WEST AMWELL — A former township clerk doesn’t want the township to become a “police state,” but last week she feared it might if proposed regulations for the protection of drinking wells are enacted.
Betty Jane Hunt said an anonymous person reported her to the state over an environmental “technicality” when she used her wood stove.
She said she doesn’t want to see the anonymous reporting on neighbors become an issue with the aquifer protection ordinance now under consideration by the Township Committee.
Deputy Mayor Ron Shapella said the proposed regulations would be triggered by applications to the planning and zoning boards.
He objected to Ms. Hunt’s use of the term, “police state.”
”I think it’s really unfortunate when people insist on using such dire terms to describe something that protects public health,” he said. “This ordinance was amended from one that was more proscriptive in that it would have drawn a 500-foot radius around drinking water wells and forced landowners to place potentially harmful materials outside that radius. The current version is much more workable because it focuses on best management practices when substances are identified that could affect private wells.”
A public hearing on the proposed ordinance will continue at the next Township Committee meeting May 21.
The committee agreed last week to continue the hearing because the Planning Board wants time to review the ordinance.
The ordinance would affect some forms of agriculture, dry cleaners and gas and service stations, among other businesses.
”The Board of Health has worked on this ordinance for the better part of two years,” Mr. Shapella said. “There are still a couple of questions that need to be answered, but I think this is something that is going to respond to conditions here in West Amwell and protect our wells better.”
The ordinance would establish development standards for certain land uses that could affect the quality of ground and surface water. The regulations would govern the storage and handling of hazardous substances or waste within areas above the aquifers, attempting to prevent their discharge into the soil or the groundwater.
Among its provisions, the ordinance calls for the protection of road salt in a shelter located on an impervious surface.
A state supply of road salt contaminated the wells of about 10 properties along Route 179. The state has offered to install reverse osmosis systems at one point of entry in each dwelling, but residents have said that is not an adequate solution. No resolution has been reached.
The salt contamination was discovered after the Department of Transportation began a cleanup of gasoline from leaking tanks in 1999.
The township also had a contamination issue to deal with when its road salt contaminated wells about seven years ago at three properties. The township installed whole-house reverse osmosis systems. It also had to install “water buffaloes,” large outdoor tanks of fresh water.
Under the proposed ordinance, new or replacement underground heating oil tanks also would be required to comply with the most stringent interpretation of the Uniform Construction Code.
The ordinance also would govern certain aspects of agricultural operations. For instance, an operation with 155 tons or more of animal waste per year would have to develop a management plan.
Subdivision or site plan applications would need to show all potable wells on site and within 100 feet of the property boundaries off site; all buildings on site; and dry wells and septic systems, among other details.
Facilities that would be affected by the proposed ordinance include automotive service centers; dry cleaners; road salt storage facilities; highway maintenance yards; and truck, bus or train maintenance yards.
Also affected would be the storage and maintenance of heavy construction equipment; landscaping storage or maintenance; livestock operations; a site with residential or agricultural motor fuel in New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection-exempted underground storage tanks of under 1,000 gallons; and an agricultural chemical bulk storage and mixing or loading facility, including crop-dusting facilities.
