MANVILLE: Zarephath levee again raised as topic for Borough Council

By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
   Concerns about the Zarephath levee came up at the Borough Council meeting Nov. 12.
   Councilman Richard Onderko said that two days before Hurricane Sandy hit in the last week of October, he was on a resident’s deck on Lincoln Avenue and watched trucks dumping dirt to raise the Pillar of Fire church facility levee along the Millstone River.
   A week after Manville was spared from flooding from Hurricane Sandy.
   Mr. Onderko read a letter, dated May 4, sent by Borough Attorney Francis Linnus to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The letter noted the borough had received a notice that Pillar of Fire had submitted an application for general permit authorization “to restore an existing levee to its original condition and constructing outfall structures and riprap aprons for erosion protection. Portions of those improvements are located within wetlands and wetlands transition areas.
   ”On behalf of the borough of Manville and its residents who have been severely impacted by floods and flooding,” the letter continued, “we request that the NJDEP, when conducting its review of this application, take into account that current conditions relating to the existing levee have severely impacted the borough and its residents. We would also ask that the NJ DEP require the applicant to address the impact it proposed improvements will have on the borough and its residents. We would further request that in the approval process no remedial activities be approved that would result in soil erosion and flooding impacts to the borough and its residents.”
   Mr. Onderko asked for an update in the six months since the letter was written. He wanted to know what the mayor had personally done to fight the levee.
   Mr. Onderko stated he called Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke and was told “everything’s in order. There is nothing we can do.”
   Mr. Onderko said he did not believe that. He asked if the mayor felt that the levee was a threat to the borough and the mayor replied, “Depends on how high they are building the levee and the changes that are made.”
   ”What are you going to do about it?” Mr. Onderko asked.
   Mayor Corradino said, “We’ve done everything that we can. We went to DEP, to our representatives and we went to Franklin Township.” According to the mayor, Franklin Township and the DEP said it was not going to be harmful to the borough and it was not going to do any damage to the borough.
   A resident spoke about the levee stating that he called the mayor telling him that Zarephath was doing the wall again. The resident said he was told by the mayor that he had to make a couple calls to the DEP, the state and Franklin Township.
   The man said he talked to a man at Zarepath who said the dirt was coming from American Water Company and the wall was raised a one to two feet. The resident said the man told him the wall was going to flood Manville out again.
   Mayor Corradino told people to “go over to Franklin Township and tell them. We have no control over it.”
   When voices in the audience yelled, “It’s not our job.” Mayor Corradino told everyone, “There is numbers in strength. We’ve done it.”
   A resident told the mayor and council he heard that Assemblywoman Donna Simon got the State Police to go to Zarepath and stopped them from doing the wall.
   ”You as mayor couldn’t go over there and say stop or call DEP? You as the mayor is the only one who could put the foot down on the buck. If not, we’re doomed. That wall has doubled in width and height. It has to stop.”
   Mike Corcoran asked the mayor if he believed the levee had an effect on the Lost Valley section of town.
   ”It is common sense,” he said. “You don’t have to be an engineer. There is just no way around it. I own my home and I’m probably leaving after the next storm. We can’t just keep going through it.”