A county-wide storm may be brewing over new storm drain rules

SUSSEX COUNTY-Municipalities now have new, tough storm-water clean-up rules to enforce, and in Sussex County many communities are wondering where they are going to find the money to revamp their outdated systems. In 2004, former Governor James McGreevey made $6 million available to municipalities to help them comply with storm-water permit requirements, with an additional $6 million allotted for 2005. These funds have helped municipalities hire engineers to draft storm water management plans. However, the money doesn't come anywhere near the vast amount local townships and boroughs would need to cover the cost of massive overhauls. In February 2004, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) set forth new regulations that govern how municipalities manage storm water. Now, the regulations require municipalities to ensure that 80 percent of all solids are filtered out of the storm water before it is sent back into the ground water n or in the language of storm water management, "recharged." Solids include sand, grit, mud and polluted run-off from lawns, farms, roads and construction sites. "We have all we can do to keep up the system we have," remarked Hardyston Public Works Director Bob Schultz. "We can't even imagine upgrading the current system at any time in the foreseeable future—we don't have the funds or the manpower, and we can't imagine where we would get either." Community budgets are limited, and townships and boroughs don't want to raise taxes to upgrade local storm drain systems. Overhauling existing storm drain systems would cost an untold amount of dollars n funds no local municipality has. However, requiring builders of new developments to comply with the new rules by installing an effective system of storm drains and settlement ponds is a mandate, and it is a realistic way to go about meeting the requirements. For example, a properly constructed settlement pond enables sediment and pollutants to sink to the bottom before the water is recharged into the watershed. To meet the regulations now in effect, an additional filtering system also is likely to be essential. The DEP has assigned municipalities to one of two tiers or categories. Tier A comprises larger municipalities n most towns in New Jersey. Tier B includes the smaller, rural areas, such as Hardyston. Areas classified as Tier B have somewhat less stringent requirements to meet than those designated Tier A, which generally have elaborate sewer systems in place. Hardyston, like many other neighboring townships and boroughs, has been working on its State-mandated storm-water management plan for the past year. The State provided a grant of about $5,000 to help defray the costs of hiring an engineering firm to develop the document. So far, the news about the Hardyston system is good: The township has been managing its storm water in keeping with existing regulations and permit requirements. Schultz emphasized that Hardyston wants to maintain its usual proactive stance to get ahead of any future problem. To that end, he is starting to use the new global positioning mapping system the town is putting into effect to mark the location of each of the storm drains in the township. The job is so vast that they haven't yet mapped even 2 percent of the system. Schultz says his department is taking a close look at all the township's outfalls. If the township engineers can find a way to reroute drainage to reduce pollutants in local ponds, lakes and rivers, they mean to try. But there are numerous lakes and other bodies of water in Hardyston, and the task is daunting. How is storm water now processed today? After the rain, the brown rivulets we see gurgling into maws of roadside storm drain catch basins carry a burden of residue from road salt and sand, fertilizer and pesticides, animal waste, eroded soil and motor oil. The catch basin is the steel-grated tub that prevents large objects, such as branches and old tires, from flowing into and clogging the storm drain system. After passing through the catch basin, the water then enters a system of pipes, and from there flows into the local ponds, lakes, streams and rivers, or seeps into the ground and eventually joins the local aquifer. The place where the storm water enters the ground water is known as an outfall. An aquifer is a water-bearing bed or stratum of porous rock, sand or gravel. Contrary to popular myth, aquifers are not underground rivers running through caverns measureless to man, like Alph, the sacred river, in the well-known poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Storm water usually enters the waterways untreated. Scientists estimate that as much as 60 percent of current water-pollution problems are cased by storm water. What's more, sediment-laden water may clog fish gills, and fill in lakes and ponds, killing the fish and sparking the need for expensive dredging. Pollutants may enter the watershed and contaminate our drinking water. Winter is hard on the storm drainage system. Steel grates rust and concrete tubs crack. For the past five weeks, Schultz been sending out members of his nine-man crew to repair the storm drains damaged by road salt and cold weather. The men never know what they are going to find until they start digging. Some catch basin grates and manhole covers are too badly rusted or deteriorated to leave in place, and the high cost of steel makes replacing these very costly. Also, the concrete block walls beneath the catch basin may be cracked or weakened and in need of refurbishing or replacement. "We don't own the waterways: Water comes from the sky," Schultz remarked. "The Highlands Act really has increased the pressure to monitor our run-off, but the state hasn't done yet anything significant to help with funding or manpower requirements. The Highlands Act helps our southerly neighbors who depend on water in the reservoirs the highlands watershed feeds. The premise is good, but we are the ones that have to put the rules into effect. If the state hasn't got the money to fund the work required, where are we going to get it?" On a related topic covered in an April 22 Star Ledger report, New Jersey Farm Bureau President Richard Nieuwenhuis told the Highlands council at an April 21 meeting that the State might want to think about asking the 4 million New Jersey residents who benefit from water generated in the Highlands to pay a water-use tax.