County gets $96M to repair pump stations

By ADAM C. UZIALKO
Staff Writer

Middlesex County’s pump stations in Sayreville and Edison will be upgraded as part of a $1.28 billion package for repairs and improvements to wastewater and drinking-water infrastructure statewide.

The funding, announced Aug. 11, includes $96 million for the replacement and protection of the two pump stations operated by the Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA), according to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

“Our two main pumping stations were completely flooded [during superstorm Sandy] and took several months to get back online and pump sewage,” MCUA Executive Director Richard Fitamant said.

The pumping stations in Sayreville and Edison were deemed inoperable after Sandy, which caused an estimated $50 million in damages to county treatment facilities on Oct. 29, 2012.

In February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allocated $10.8 million for repairs to the main pumping station in Sayreville.

The funding was in addition to a 2013 grant of $2.4 million to repair the pump station, provide bypass pumping for the Sayreville sewage-treatment plant, and install and operate a surge diversion facility to minimize surges to the pump station in the event of a future storm.

The station in Edison has been working at full capacity since January 2013, and the Sayreville station returned to full operation four months later.

Service to the MCUA’s nearly 797,000 customers across 38 municipalities has not been impacted since the two stations came back online, according to Fitamant.

However, the work completed after Sandy included only temporary emergency repairs, he said, adding that permanent repairs were still necessary. During the storm, the main water-treatment plant remained dry due to its high elevation, but the pumping stations were inundated with water, which led to extensive damage.

“We’ve done some additional work since then, but what is needed is … the replacement of a lot of equipment that is now operating that’s been damaged by the flood at both facilities,” Fitamant said.

According to Fitamant, repairs include replacing the electrical switchgear in order to accommodate the installation of backup generators and having the electrical motors “rewound.” In addition, the stations will be undergoing flood-mitigation projects to protect from future storms on the magnitude of Sandy.

“One of the things that we’re being requested to build flood protection for is the 500-year storm,” he said.

That protection includes backup generators, a 15-foot wall around the Edison station and a 12-foot wall in Sayreville.

Fitamant estimated that the projects would cost roughly $100 million. The funding will be provided as a low-cost loan through the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (NJEIT) Statewide Assistance Infrastructure Loan program.

NJEIT, an independent financing agency partnered with the DEP, is working alongside entities that supply water and treat wastewater to identify and finance needed repairs and mitigation projects, according to Dave Zimmer, executive director of NJEIT.

“Every year, the feds appropriate our tax dollars back to us,” he said. “[The money] comes into the state, the state appropriates it to the DEP, and we oversee the program for the DEP.”

Zimmer said his agency lends the money for water infrastructure projects, and the DEP conducts environmental reviews and permitting for those projects.

NJEIT is able to offer submarket interest rates under the program because the federal money is interest-free. The borrowing of tax-exempt bonds, which carried a rate of 2.795 percent in this case, then bolsters those funds.

“[NJEIT] borrows money on the bond market at a AAA level,” Zimmer said.

The result is an interest rate as low as 0.69 percent.

“Everybody else is going to borrow somewhere between 3 and 4 percent,” Zimmer said. He added that the difference in that interest rate over the life of the 20-year loan is at least 35 percent, depending on what the rate is without the program.

In addition to making funding available, NJEIT will also perform a consulting role to ensure the project costs are qualified for reimbursement under FEMA guidelines.

“The goal is to get it rebuilt, rebuilt correctly and to withstand a future storm,” Zimmer said.