DEP says it will pay for new water line

Line needed because of well contamination

By Carol Fletcher
Suburban Trends
Staff Writer 

Sunday, December 12, 2004

If dreams can come true, they came in the form of news about a state-funded water line for a neighborhood affected by well contamination.

 Late Thursday, December 9, and a couple of hours before state officials met with residents, the state’s environmental office announced that it would pay $1.2 million for a water line into the neighborhood off Skyline Drive.

“Providing safe drinking water will bring some needed peace of mind to the residents of this Ringwood neighborhood,” said Acting Governor Richard Codey, in the press release.

That message of peace of mind was echoed in the tone of the neighborhood meeting, led by Greg Coffey, the borough’s environmental attorney who spearheaded negotiations with the state for the water line.

“(You will get) a connection to the public water supply at no expense to you,” said Coffey to the residents who packed the Skyline Lakes Clubhouse.

Since June, drinking water wells to homes along Wildwood Terrace and Oakwood Drive have undergone continuous testing for methyl tertiary butyl either (MTBE) and tertiary butyl ether (TBA), two chemicals that are added to gasoline so it burns cleaner.

Tests revealed that five wells contained MTBE and TBA above the state’s safe drinking water levels.

A team of high-level officials from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and scientists with the state health department drove up from Trenton to join several local officials in explaining the good news to the affected community.

“I don’t think I could’ve gotten a better holiday gift,” said Mayor Wenke Taule, who Coffey and the residents credited with leading the effort on the local government level to lobby the DEP to fund the water line.

Coffey further eased the minds of residents, many of whom were parents, with the news that the borough decided to supply the 77 affected homes with bottled water until the water line is in.

“You can rest easy,” said Taule. “You’re going to get your bottled water.” Coffey said residents should receive water in about 10 days.

According to the DEP plan, the proposed line would continue the water lines already installed on Skyline Drive and Oakwood Drive and the cost would include sealing all wells.

Furthermore, the DEP is also now taking over the water sampling. Those will be done quarterly, officials said.

Although 77 homes are in the area, there are eight homes near Buena Vista Drive that the DEP’s funding cannot cover, said DEP officials.

“It is totally illogical that I’m just being left out, and my neighbors,” one resident said.

Coffey said he has recommended to council members that the borough pay to get a water line extended to their homes.”

Councilman Bill Marsala, who had not appeared at other public meetings, addressed the resident’s complaint.

“My gut reaction…I agree with you,” he said. “It would be illogical…if we would have to go in and reopen (the street) and then bid it out.”

Tom Cozzi, director of DEP’s remediation division, explained that the water line solution was the least expensive and most effective way to resolve the contamination problem.

Digging deeper wells for homeowners would only draw the contamination down with them, said Cozzi, and paying for installing and monitoring treatment systems on every home would cost over $2 million (a year) for 20 years.

“Our first line of defense, if nothing else, is to protect public health,” said Cozzi, who authorized the use of the state’s public spill fund for the project. 

Cozzu said construction might begin as early as next spring, if the council approves DEP’s contract with the town, pending also weather and the area’s rocky topology.

DEP officials will continue to remain in the area, said Cozzi, and continue to investigate groundwater activity costing up to $2 million.

“The whole issue of a responsible party is not dropped because of public funds,” Coffey replied. He added that the law that created the public spill funds also grants the DEP the right to get reimbursed up to three times the project cost.

The DEP has already given Costello $500,000 out of state remediation funds to pay for cleaning up the most recent contamination on his property.

And that doesn’t not included state funding provided to Costello for a 1998 contamination incident on the site that disappeared with the remediation firm he hired.

“We could’ve done better on that one,” Cozzi admitted, and added that the state put a $500,000 lien on his property to ensure they get their money back.

Mike Flite, the site project manager, said they are also seeking to further establish Costell’s station as the contamination source by installing a new monitoring well uphill from the station.

Since contamination follows the downward flow of ground water, finding no contamination above the station would remove the possibility of any sources above him.

Flite called any other source “very, very unlikely,” and said “I know there was discharge at the site and contamination downgrade from it.”

Flite was referring to the 429 tons of soil contaminated with MTBE and benzene above state safety levels that had to be removed from the station when the most recent contamination was discovered in August 2003.

Residents also brought up culpability in connection with the news that Costello’s lawyer just noticed the borough with an intent to sue for $10 million for those accusing his station of being a contamination source.

Ray Dwyer and Sam Close, the two co-chairmen who founded the residents group with Joan Dalrymple that fought alongside Coffey, expressed awe and gratitude for the DEP’s  fast-paced decision.

“I think we’re very pleased with the DEP,” said Dwyer, “coming up here with their committee. It’s just outstanding. We’ve become the model solution.”

Close agreed, and said, “We never expected a two-month resolution. It really was a collaborative effort.”

Dwyer adds though, that while the water line news is a significant step, their community work is not over yet.

“I look forward to continuing our efforts and working with the borough as we prepare for the installation of the water line,” said Dwyer.