Grease gums
up sewer
line repairs
Extra work needed to clear lines; no additional expense expected
By CAROLYN O’CONNELL
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — Restaurants are said to be the origin of a greasy problem within the city’s sewer lines.
The significant grease buildup along 1,000 linear feet of sewer lines on the Broadway corridor is directly linked to the "lack of maintenance of restaurant grease traps," said John VanDorpe, the Long Branch Sewerage Authority’s engineer from Maser Consulting Inc., Matawan.
"Additional factors for grease buildup," said VanDorpe, "can be attributed to the angle and dips in the pipes."
According to David Roach, director of the health department, no issues concerning the lack of maintenance of grease traps has been reported.
He added, "All retail food establishments in the city are inspected annually, and if a complaint is lodged, we will inspect them as necessary."
During annual inspections, Roach noted, several factors are involved in keeping grease out of the sewer, including upgraded and maintained plumbing and maintained grease traps within the restaurant. Grease that is collected from the traps is hauled off by a disposal company.
According to VanDorpe, before moving forward with the lining process the contractor, Spinello of Morristown, must inspect and clean the pipes prior to lining them with an epoxy resin.
Metra Industries Inc. of Little Falls, the main contractor, has subcontracted the cleaning and lining process to Spinello.
Some highly trafficked areas in the city, like Broadway, have been targeted by the sewerage authority for pipe lining instead of replacement. "Ripping up the street and replacing pipes," said VanDorpe, "rather than lining existing pipes can cause a week’s delay. Lining takes substantially less time and is a less disruptive process."
But during the cleaning process, which occurred within the last couple of weeks, inspectors on site reported back to the contractor that the sewer lines along Broadway had extensive grease buildup.
"Grease buildup can usually be removed with hydraulic cleaning (water ejected from high powered jets)," said VanDorpe, "but that hydraulic cleaning was not successful."
Instead, the contractor will be cleaning the lines with a mechanical rotating device which will dislodge the grease, before the contractor vacuums out the debris, said VanDorpe.
"This process," said VanDorpe, "can be done within a day, depending on how bad the buildup is."
Additionally, the contractor will be correcting dips or slopes to today’s standard measurements wherever possible. In addition to sewer lines, noted VanDorpe, some manholes will be replaced, and those that are in good condition will be lined with an epoxy cement to deter corrosion from sewer gases.
The additional work has been estimated into the bid and will not be costing the authority additional money beyond the $9.5 million contract awarded for Phase II of the sewer rehabilitation process.