Vol. 5 No. 3 Winter 1997
A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs

23 projects to share $72 million

The DEP and the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (Trust) recently certified 23 projects for loans totaling approximately $72 million. These projects will help municipalities improve substandard sewage treatment facilities, repair/replace collection and conveyance facilities, and purchase equipment to clean and maintain their sewer and stormwater systems.

A certification by the DEP and the Trust is issued for projects that meet all program requirements and are ready to receive funding for implementation. The DEP has allocated almost $36 million in zero-interest loans for 20-year terms. The Trust held a bond sale in October to finance its share of allowable project costs at market rate. The combination of DEP and Trust funding provides loans for 100 percent of the allowable project costs at half the market rate, resulting in annual savings of 30 percent when compared to the cost of each participant obtaining its own financing.

“These projects will improve water quality and protect the environment by upgrading antiquated sewage treatment facilities or expanding systems to eliminate failing septic tanks,” said DEP Commissioner Robert C. Shinn, Jr. “The financing program ensures projects not only meet federal and state requirements, but also offer the most cost effective, environmentally sound solutions to wastewater and stormwater infrastructure problems in the state.”

The loan program provides assistance to local governments for a variety of wastewater and stormwater projects, including wastewater treatment facility improvements, sludge treatment, collection and interceptor sewers, combined sewer overflow abatement projects, and stormwater/nonpoint source pollution management. The certified list includes twelve “Second Chance” projects; Second Chance is a program started a few years ago which offers an expedited review for those applicants meeting the department’s criteria, but proceeding independently toward construction.

This year’s list increases the total amount of projects certified under the Wastewater Treatment Financing Program since 1987 to over $1.3 billion. Last year, $87 million in DEP and Trust loans was awarded to 18 projects. Sixty applicants, totaling more than $400 million in projects, are pursuing funding in State Fiscal Year 1999.

The program’s priority system ranks eligible projects based on the type of discharge and the existing water quality conditions. There are 352 projects on the existing Project Priority List.

For more information on the loan program, contact Assistant Director Nicholas Binder, P.E., P.P., of the Municipal Finance and Construction Element, at (609) 292-8961.

The following lists the twenty-three projects which were certified by the Municipal Finance and Construction Element in September 1997 for low-interest loans through the Wastewater Treatment Financing Program. Governor Whitman signed the appropriations bill on August 20, 1997, and the DEP, the Trust, and the project sponsors closed on the loans on November 7, 1997.

New Brunswick City (Middlesex County)
Project # S340437-07 Certified Loan Amount $2,775,720

Consists of the construction of a separate, independent storm sewer collection system and a sanitary sewer system. Also includes the replacement of sewer lines in areas with hydraulic problems and the elimination of local areas of flooding.


Gloucester City (Camden County)
Project # N92 958-02 Certified Loan Amount $2,535,423

Involves the removal and replacement of combined sewers on Broadway and Powell Streets to eliminate sewage backups. The Broadway project will include the replacement of 15 manholes and 194 house connections, while the Powell Street project includes replacing 2,500 linear feet (LF) of 12-inch brick pipe with 12-inch PVC pipe, and the replacement of 8 manholes and 128 house connections.


Atlantic County Utilities Authority (Atlantic County)
Project # S340809-06 Certified Loan Amount $2,975,326

Involves various treatment plant improvements, including the replacement of sludge rake arms, center columns, cages, and blades in five primary and five secondary clarifiers, railings and gratings located throughout the treatment plant, and improvements to two sludge thickening units.


Buena Borough Municipal UA (Atlantic County)
Project # N92 518-03 Certified Loan Amount $1,666,972

Consists of various improvements including: the construction of a permanent wall to improve compost pile circulation, flow equalization, ultra-violet equipment, blower upgrades, chemical addition building, polymer system, aeration basin improvements, upgrade of existing septage pit pump stations, weir upgrade, upgrade of three existing pumping stations, and replacement of a sludge filter press.


Northwest Bergen County UA (Bergen County)
Project # S340700-07 Certified Loan Amount $6,424,764

Includes the construction of a new sludge incinerator and modifications to the existing sludge incinerator, which will be used as a back-up.


New Brunswick City (Middlesex County)
Project # S340437-09 Certified Loan Amount $1,738,656

Consists of the rehabilitation of existing sanitary sewer lines, the construction of a new gravity interceptor sewer line, and the elimination of infiltration/inflow.


Camden City (Camden County)
Project # NJL 366-01 Certified Loan Amount $845,280

Consists of the purchase of four truck-mounted combined jetting and vacuuming machines to flush sand, solid debris, grease, and other materials from sewers and mains.


North Wildwood City (Cape May County)
Project # N92 663-02 Certified Loan Amount $2,184,434

Involves the replacement of a deteriorating vitrified clay sewer system with approximately 15,400 feet of 8-inch PVC pipe, 1,800 feet of 10-inch PVC pipe, 600 feet of 12-inch PVC pipe, 600 feet of 15-inch PVC pipe, 1,200 feet of 18-inch PVC pipe, 75 manholes, and 800 house connection laterals.


Merchantville Borough (Camden County)
Project # N92 367-01 Certified Loan Amount $878,280

Includes a combination of removal/replacement and relining of the existing sanitary sewer mains throughout the borough. The project will reduce infiltration/inflow and rehabilitate part of the sewer system that is collapsed and severely cracked.


New Brunswick City (Middlesex County)
Project # S340437-10 Certified Loan Amount $5,308,104

Involves internal repairs and structural enhancements to the Main and West Branches of Lyle Brook Culvert to improve drainage in the vicinity of Drift Street and George Street. In addition, sanitary sewer laterals connected to the culvert will be eliminated and connected to the existing sanitary sewer system.


Woodbridge Township (Middlesex County)
Project # S340433-09 Certified Loan Amount $879,190

Involves the purchase of two street sweepers, one vactor unit, one sewer flusher unit, and one loader to remove debris and other pollutants before they can enter surrounding waterways.


Florham Park Sewerage Authority (Morris County)
Project #N92 703-04 Certified Loan Amount $821,868

Includes the replacement of an aerated grit chamber. The design capacity of the new chamber will be 1.4 million gallons per day (MGD), with a peak capacity of 5.6 MGD.


Hackensack City (Bergen County)
Project # S340923-01 Certified Loan Amount $2,774,984

Involves the construction of mechanical screening facilities to remove solids and floatables at the City’s two combined sewer overflow (CSO) points, located at Court Street and Anderson Street.


Washington Borough (Morris County)
Project # S340706-03 Certified Loan Amount $13,000,360

Includes treatment plant improvements to provide nutrient removal and increase operational reliability. The plant’s outfall will be extended to discharge effluent directly to Pohatcong Creek.


Harrison Township (Gloucester County)
Project # S340526-05 Certified Loan Amount $458,500

Includes the construction of mechanical sludge dewatering/thickening facilities to replace the existing sludge drying beds.


Mine Hill Township (Morris County)
Project # S340498-01 Certified Loan Amount $1,699,114

Includes the construction of a sewage collection system to service homes and businesses on failing septic systems. The new collection system will tie into the Jackson Brook interceptor manhole on Randolph Avenue, with treatment at Rockaway Valley Regional Sewerage Authority. There will be 178 residential service hook-ups.


Northwest Bergen County UA (Bergen County)
Project # S340700-08 Certified Loan Amount $3,279,600

Involves pipe remediation by inversion lining and manhole remediation consisting of relining, plastering, patching, coating of surfaces and sealing against infiltration and inflow, as appropriate.


Old Bridge Municipal UA (Middlesex County)
Project # S340945-06 Certified Loan Amount $2,699,720

Includes the rehabilitation of approximately 19,177 linear feet of 8-inch to 18-inch concrete sewer mains.


Nutley Township/Clifton City (Essex Co./Passaic Co.)
Project # S340834-01 Certified Loan Amount $7,240,000

Involves the replacement of 2,750 linear feet of existing sanitary trunk sewer with a new 42-inch diameter sewer. In addition, 528 feet of 8- and 10-inch diameter pipe will be installed to convey sewage to the new trunk sewer located at Rutgers Place.


Bergenfield Borough (Bergen County)
Project # S340378-01 Certified Loan Amount $1,120,000

Includes the replacement of existing sanitary and storm sewers in various sections of the Borough where the existing lines are inadequate or structurally unsound. Also included is the purchase of a truck to clean and maintain the sewer system.


Atlantic County Utilities Authority (Atlantic County)
Project # S340809-07 Certified Loan Amount $7,319,078

Consists of installing new sewer lines or slip-lining existing lines to prevent future pipe failures in the project area.


Washington Borough (Morris County)
Project # S340706-04 Certified Loan Amount $2,028,700

Involves an infiltration/inflow correction program in conjunction with the replacement/rehabilitation of problem sections in the sewer system.


Longport Borough (Atlantic County)
Project # N92 665-01 Certified Loan Amount $1,404,600

Involves the removal and replacement of existing clay pipes with 700 feet of 18-inch PVC pipe, 2,025 feet of 12-inch PVC pipe, 2,375 feet of 10-inch PVC pipe, 11,200 feet of 8-inch PVC pipe and 5,700 feet of 6-inch PVC pipe (laterals).