'My neighbor has five enormous ejector pumps' Flooding a big problem in some areas; city seeks funding for pipes
Jul 31, 2005 | 119 views | 0 
| 0 
| 
| 
| 0 | |
Gibbons, who lives on Pavonia Avenue near Hamilton Park, has seen his and his neighbors' basements become a septic tank year after year, as waste water seeps in when there's a heavy rain.
Gibbons also had to deal with a sink hole in 2001. He looked into the problem around that time, informing the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA), which operates both the sewerage and water systems, that the problem was likely caused by a broken sewer line running beneath his home.
Gibbons is one of many residents in Jersey City dealing with the problem of an antiquated sewer system. Jersey City has a combined sewer system that dates back over 100 years.
A "combined sewer system" means that both waste water and storm water flow through the pipes.Fiscal issues might delay pipes
The JCMUA is an autonomous agency responsible for the operation of the city's sewer and water systems, but it has been financially unstable for over a year, running a deficit of over $28 million.
It recently raised its sewer and water rates by 15 percent, but has also raised eyebrows for approving a monetary bonus for administrators if they do well on billing collection, and they also authorized a pay raise for their attorney, despite collecting less revenue than the year before. Sinkhole was not a good sign
Tom Gibbons moved into his Pavonia Avenue home in 1999. Whenever there was a heavy rain, he knew the flood was coming.
"The water would have nowhere to go and start seeping into my house, and the same thing would happen to my neighbors," said Gibbons. "The previous owners said this was just normal for this area."
Gibbons accepted that rationale until a sinkhole formed under the common wall adjoining his house to his neighbors' in 2001.
"It was three feet wide and a foot deep, so it wasn't too large, but it was large enough to affect the stability of my home," said Gibbons.
Cracks formed in the walls and reached all the way to the ceiling.
That's when Gibbons brought in Lira Engineering, a New York City-based engineering firm that did an investigation of the sinkhole.
They told him what he'd suspected all along. "I told [Lira Engineering] that I was told and the neighbors were told that the flooding was a common occurrence, and they just laughed," said Gibbons. "They told me that the problem could be fixed because it is due to a broken sewer pipe."
Gibbons then informed the MUA in November 2001 about the possibility of a broken sewer pipe causing the flooding problems with his and his neighbor's houses. Gibbons has since filled the sinkhole, and now sees only some seepage, but believes that it won't stay that way for long.
"The water that is not coming into my house is going elsewhere, and my neighbors are getting the brunt of it," said Gibbons. "My neighbor next door has five enormous commerical style ejector pumps that get the water out immediately."
And as the major part of hurricane season creeps up next month, there could be more water a-flowin'. Will meet with state
Gibbons and his neighbors are meeting with officials from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in coming weeks to show them the problem and prompt them to move quickly on this matter.
The MUA's chief engineer, Joseph Beckmeyer, said in a June 9 memo to former City Councilman E. Junior Maldonado that the agency has completed design plans for a new sewer pipe to be submitted to the NJDEP.
When submitted, the MUA should receive a permit from the state to build "in three to four months," says the memo. But also in the memo, Beckmeyer points out that "funding the construction costs is still a challenge" and gives an estimate of $350,000 that could be found in a city bond fund, if the City Council approved such a thing.
Beckmeyer and JCMUA Director Thomas Kane could not be reached for comments last week. How they maintain sewers
The JCMUA owns more than 230 miles of sewers and 5,000 street-level catch basins. They monitor 21 sewer overflow points throughout the city that keep raw wastewater from discharging into the Hudson and Hackensack rivers.
Catch basins are located at the corners of streets. There, the storm water enters into the sewer system, but the basins catch garbage and debris that could clog a sewer pipe.
Richard Haytas, assistant engineer and infrastructure maintenance supervisor for the JCMUA, said that since he started on the job in 1996, there has been an effort to make sure that the flow of water is for the most part smooth.
"I put together a schedule where areas are checked several times a year to clean catch basins and do other types of maintenance," said Haytas. "When I came here nine years ago, the only jobs done were when there was a problem. My feeling is, Let's do the maintenance before there's a problem."
Haytas went on to say that problems with backups can be attributed to factors ranging from people dumping grease to "root intrusion" from trees.
He also said that some areas will always problems with flooding, such as Downtown Jersey City and the Heights section. There are a number of reasons. For instance Newark Avenue is low-lying and water streams down from Dickinson High School on the hill, and some of the pipes are older in that area.
He also noted that flooding can occur anywhere if there's a substantial downpour in a short period of time. Problem areas listed, dealt with
In a November 29, 2004 memo by the JCMUA's Beckmeyer to his boss, Thomas Kane, Beckmeyer listed several areas around the city that have been the worst spots for flooding and need immediate attention.
They are Pavonia Avenue near Hamilton Park, Pine Street south of Communipaw Avenue, Sip Avenue at the intersection of West Side Avenue, West Side Avenue at Stegman Avenue and at Audubon Avenue, and Merseles Street under the NJ Turnpike.
Visits to some of the locations found that flooding problems have abated to a great degree.
Pine Street resident Denise Bajkowski said that there was a time when water would flow from the top of the block and flood the street, but praised the MUA for their work in building a temporary catch basin near the end of the block while a permanent one is being built.
Peter Barron, property manager at the College Towers apartment complex on College Drive, said that the MUA has installed new catch basins on the corners of Stegman and West Side located not far from College Towers.
Barron said that this may help the flooding situation, but based on information he has gathered, the MUA would have to do a great deal of work with the sewer pipes in the area
post a comment
comments (0)
no comments yet