To the editor:
It is evident that the Army Corps of Engineers missed the bigger picture here in Manville. The flooding problem that Manville often encounters is a regional problem and not one isolated to the Borough of Manville’s two square miles. This is a serious quality of life and public safety issue for the region and it must be addressed. In my opinion it is a man-made problem caused by overdevelopment, which has placed too much impervious surface into our river basin.
After viewing the Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed levee and flood wall plan, one will see an obvious flaw in the analysis of the region with a flood levee ending at North 13th Avenue on the north side of town. This completely ignores the homes in Hillsborough along Duke’s Parkway, a roadway that floods all the way to Route 206. Would Hillsborough then become the next “forgotten town” if levees were built only for Manville’s benefit? How can anyone trust the Army Corps’ judgement and cost-to-benefit calculations with a design flaw this major?
Areas of Somerville flood as the Peters Brook backs up when it drains into a swollen Raritan River. PSE&G had to recently raise a power substation on Bridge Street to make it more storm resilient, but at what cost? The Borough of Millstone suffers flooding from the Millstone River. Were any of these structures included in the cost to benefit analysis?
In addition, the American Water Company is planning to raise its existing flood walls 4 feet at a cost of $31.5 million to protect our water supply facility. If something could be done to actually lower flood water levels for the Raritan and Millstone Rivers, that money could surely be put to better use.
The bigger picture is an area much larger than just the Borough of Manville itself. And for the Army Corps to state “the annual benefits of a project must be greater than the total annual cost over a 50-year period of analysis,” I say the loss of economic activity in the area from knocking down a large number of homes in the future must also be taken into consideration.
Manville has lost over $1 million of recurring property tax revenues with more than 160 homes bought out to date or from homes left abandoned that spot blight our neighborhoods and reduce surrounding real estate values. I agree that the Army Corps doesn’t decide if a project is to be undertaken based on a community being affluent or not. But it obviously helps the cost-to-benefit ratios if a community is affluent and not one with depressed real estate values due to a decade of repeated flood events.
The United States of America ironically gives billions of dollars of foreign aid away and gets nothing in return, yet our request for help is questioned for its economic benefits.
One Army Corps proposal is to dredge and widen the Raritan River at a cost estimate of $130 million. It would actually help lower flood waters in both rivers based upon their own hydraulic modeling. Its impact could help save some homes in the region from future first-floor damage claims.
Dredging the Raritan River in combination with removing the Island Farm weir from the waterway is the best starting point to help lower future flood water levels which will impact a wide area. Doing nothing is unacceptable!
As Americans we deserve so much better as we have waited long enough to see a shovel in the ground to help mitigate this problem.
Richard M. Onderko
Mayor
Borough of Manville
