DEP Issues $600,000 Penalty to Essex
County Developer for Unauthorized Sewer Main Connection
(03/69) TRENTON The Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced that Town
& Country Developers, Inc. was fined $604,110 for illegally
constructing and connecting a sewer extension in Nutley
Township, Essex County.
"Town & Country neglected a critical
environmental review of its wastewater treatment plans required
to protect New Jersey's waterways and ensure that local
sewage infrastructures are not overburdened by new development,"
said DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell. "Illegal
sewer hookups undermine the effectiveness of regional water
quality management plans and the state' s ability to safeguard
clean and adequate water supplies."
Town & Country Developers failed to
obtain a Treatment Works Approval (TWA) for its Cambridge
Heights at Nutley Development prior to constructing and
connecting a sewer main to the Nutley Township sewage collection
system. The total wastewater flow for the development, which
consists of 33 one family homes and 135 townhomes, is 138,000
gallons per day of sewage.
Failure to apply for a TWA, as required
by the Water Pollution Control Act, prevents the department
from determining whether or not a local sewage collection
system infrastructure and the downstream sewage treatment
plant have the hydraulic and treatment capacity to accept
additional proposed sewage flows.
Town & Country applied for and obtained
the necessary TWA permit nearly a year after the sewer main
to Nutley Township collection system had already been constructed
and connected. The Cambridge Heights at Nutley Development
is located in Nutley Township between Washington Avenue
and Kinglands Road.
The DEP's TWA program regulates the construction
and operation of domestic wastewater collection, conveyance
and treatment facilities, including treatment plants, pumping
stations, interceptors, sewer mains and other collection,
holding and conveyance systems. The program is aimed at
protecting the waters of the state by preventing the entry
of increased pollutants from inadequate facilities.
NOTE: A copy of the DEP's Administrative
Order and Notice of Civil Administrative Penalty Assessment
that was issued to Town and Country is available upon request.
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