JERSEY CITY, N.J. TO UPGRADE AND REPAIR SEWER SYSTEM TO RESOLVE CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS (NJ)
WASHINGTON – A settlement between the
United States and the Jersey City, N.J. Municipal Utilities
Authority (JCMUA) will resolve Clean Water Act violations by JCMUA
for failing to properly operate and maintain its combined sewer
system, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) announced today.
JCMUA violations
included releases of untreated sewage into the Hackensack River,
Hudson River, Newark Bay and Penhorn Creek. JCMUA will invest more
than $52 million in repairs and upgrades to its existing
infrastructure and pay a civil penalty of $375,000.
Under the settlement, JCMUA is required to
comply with its Clean Water Act permit and will conduct evaluations
to identify the problems within the system that led to releases of
untreated sewage. JCMUA will also complete repairs to approximately
25,000 feet of sewer lines over the next eight years. Finally,
JCMUA will invest $550,000 into a supplemental environmental
project that will remove privately-owned sewers from homes in
several neighborhoods in Jersey City and replace them with direct
sewer connections, creating better wastewater collection in those
areas.
“This agreement, like others reached with
cities across the country, addresses critically important and
long-overdue upgrades to the municipal sewer system in Jersey City,
which are required if JCMUA is to achieve compliance with the
nation’s Clean Water Act,” said Ignacia S. Moreno,
Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural
Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “Among the
actions required by the agreement, a supplemental environmental
project will replace privately-owned sewers with direct sewer
connections, directly benefiting economically disadvantaged
residents by improving wastewater collection and preventing sewage
backups in their homes.”
“Investment in municipal infrastructure
and local commitments like those in today’s agreement are
practical and necessary solutions to sewer overflow
problems,” said Judith A. Enck, Administrator for EPA’s
Region 2 Office. “Today’s agreement will help improve
water quality in waters around Jersey City and protect community
residents from exposure to raw sewage and contaminated stormwater,
now, and into the future.”
Combined sewer systems are designed to transport
sewage, industrial wastewater and rainwater runoff in the same
pipes to wastewater treatment plants. During periods of heavy
rainfall, the volume of wastewater traveling through a combined
sewer system can exceed the capacity of the treatment plant.
Resulting overflows, called Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs),
contain not only stormwater but also pollutants such as untreated
human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris. They pose
risks to human health, threaten aquatic habitats and life, and
impair the use and enjoyment of the nation’s
waterways.
The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public
comment period and final court approval. A copy of the consent
decree is available on the Department of Justice web site at
https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
EPA recently released a report, Keeping Raw Sewage and Contaminated Stormwater Out of
the Public’s Water, to answer
commonly asked questions about combined sewer overflows. To read or
download a copy of the report, visit http://www.epa.gov/region2/water/.
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