Authority to build sewer line; pay state $100K fine

BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer

Authority to build sewer line; pay state $100K fine

BY JOHN DUNPHY

Staff Writer

The Middlesex County Utilities Authority will pay the state $100,000 and install a new sewer main in response to the March 2, 2003, sewage pipe break.

The 13-foot-long split within the 102-inch prestressed concrete pipeline, said to be the result in part of a nearby lightning strike, flooded Boehmhurst Avenue and Sixth Street in Sayreville, and sent 570 million gallons of raw sewage into the Raritan River over the course of nine days, closing shellfish beds and temporarily crippling the clamming community as far as the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers in Monmouth County.

In the following months, the MCUA spent about $200,000 to replace topsoil, repair concrete allegedly damaged by the flood, and to powerwash some homes.

In addition, the MCUA paid $265,000 to clammers who lost wages following the closure of the Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, and the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers. All shellfish beds affected by the spill were reopened by April 17, 2003.

"This agreement underscores the importance of strong enforcement to protect public health, as well as the livelihood of New Jersey’s commercial fishermen," Bradley M. Campbell, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), said in a statement last week. "The Middlesex County Ultility Authority is correcting its system’s weaknesses."

The $100,000 payment to the state’s general fund settles the MCUA’s violations of the state’s Water Pollution Control Act. In addition, the MCUA will have to install a second, 60-inch force main to facilitate inspection and repair of the existing main.

According to Roger Staib, a representative of the MCUA, commencement of the design for the force main will begin later this year.

The settlement also stipulates that the MCUA must frequently monitor and inspect existing sewer mains, and identify emergency power sources. In addition, the utilities authority will implement an outreach and education program to communicate with consumers and members of the wastewater management field regarding the spill and measures taken to prevent further spills, according to a press release from the DEP.

Construction of the 60-inch main, which is estimated to cost $32 million, is expected to begin by March 2006 and be completed by March 2008.