Sewer ban to affect development projects Plan to increase capacity expected to take two years BY LINDA DeNICOLA Staff Writer A self-imposed sewer connection ban by the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority, Monmouth Beach, will affect new construction in 12 towns and Fort Monmouth for an anticipated two years. Michael Gianforte, the authority's executive director, said the authority was obliged to impose the ban in accordance with the regulations of the state Department of Environmental Protection because flow to the wastewater treatment plant exceeded its conveyance capacity. The ban affects all new construction projects and any applicant filing for reconnection to the authority's system. But, said Gianforte, there are some exemptions. Those include single-family home construction; projects designed to house people with low- or moderate-incomes; a building or group of buildings that has a failed septic system; a groundwater remediation system that has no other feasible discharge alternative, a not-for-profit organization that serves public good to needy people or people with disabilities; projects approved by a municipality prior to 1986. Gianforte said that although there are some exemptions, there are certain large-scale developments that can't move forward, one of which is the controversial Home Depot application that was recently approved by the Tinton Falls Planning Board. Karen Hershey, state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman, explained that the DEP has provisions concerning sewer bans that are imposed because either they are not meeting the DEP limits or don't have sufficient conveyance to handle the flow. "It is something that happens from time to time. In this case, Two Rivers imposed the ban on their own. It is more often the case that the DEP has to impose the ban," she said. Gianforte said last Thursday, that he was hoping to arrange a meeting with the DEP next week. Hershey said the discussion is going to involve how the problem will be rectified. According to information posted on the TRWRA Web site, trwra.org/news, the sewer connection ban became effective June 19. The notice explained that the authority has engaged an engineer to provide plans and specifications to temporarily augment the capacity of the main pump station that is required by NJDEP in accordance with current regulations. Upon completion of the augmentation, which includes the installation of two temporary pumps in existing manholes, the authority will make an application to the state DEP to remove the sewer ban. The authority intends to commence construction by the end of this year and complete the construction in two years. The authority plans to advertise for bids at the end of July for contractors to install the temporary pumps, but DEP approval of the design is needed, he said. Gianforte said the temporary fix will reinforce the capacity of the current configuration and bring it up to what is needed now. The Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority treatment plant and collection system serves six original member towns: Monmouth Beach, Oceanport, West Long Branch, Shrewsbury Borough and Little Silver and six customer towns: Red Bank, Rumson, Sea Bright, Shrewsbury Township, Eatontown and parts of Tinton Falls and Fort Monmouth, which includes about 90,000 people, 39,000 households. Gianforte said they used an average of over 11.8 million gallons per day over the last three months alone. The TRWRA was created in 1965 and became operational in 1971. It was originally designed to handle 10 million gallons per day and improvements made in 1991-1992 increased the capacity to 11.4 million gallons per day. A construction and expansion project completed in early 2004, increased the flow capacity to an average of 13.83 million gallons per day and a maximum of 17.29 million gallons. Gianforte explained that the capacity required by the DEP is 34.58 million gallons per day, 2 1/2 times the current flow. The authority bonded for $48 million for the 2004 expansion project. In February 2006, the authority filed a federal lawsuit against Cambridge, Mass. based consulting engineers, Camp, Dresser & McKee, the project designers. "We had a contract with them to design the project in accordance with the DEP regulations. The main pump station is where the problem lies," he said.