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Dredging runoff basins may be pricey
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - March 24, 2008)
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Staff Photos by Karen Mrnarevic
The runoff from this runoff pond, which is funneled through a narrow pipe that runs under Saddle River Roadand into the Musquapsink Brook, has caused erosion of the earth and concrete structures surrounding the pipe, which may have contributed to the crack in Saddle River Roadwhich is visible in this picture.
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The upper and lower runoff ponds adjacent to Saddle River Road in
Woodcliff
Lake don’t hold much water. The two pools, separated by a deteriorating dam, which for decades have moderated the flow of runoff from the Garden State Parkway, the Tice Farms property, and the surrounding neighborhood, are now large, shallow, and swollen.
Picturesque though they are, the ponds are now only about a foot deep, due the accumulation of tons of soil and vegetation. The overflow of runoff, which is funneled through a narrow pipe that runs under Saddle River Road and into the Musquapsink Brook, has caused erosion of the earth and concrete structures surrounding the pipe, which may have contributed to a crack in Saddle River Road.
According to Mayor Joe LaPaglia, the ponds pose a problem that has been overlooked for long enough. “Those ponds didn’t just fill up with silt the past four years,” he said in a phone interview. “This is a problem that has evolved over 20 or more years. And nobody wanted to address it. Why not? Because, frankly, they didn’t want to pay for it.”
At the March 17 meeting of the
Woodcliff
Lake council, LaPaglia brought up the prospect of dredging the ponds and repairing the dam. This would increase the capacity of the ponds and hopefully prevent heavy rains from leading to an overload of water flowing through the drainage pipe and causing further damage to the pipe and the road surface.
But dredging the runoff pools is not as cut and dry a process as it may sound. Since the pools have handled runoff from farmlands, there is a potential risk that the soil is contaminated with pesticides and other harmful chemicals. This could mean that disposing of the dredged sediment would be complicated and expensive. Even before dredging can commence, the soil will have to be tested, a process that Boswell McClave, the borough’s engineering firm, has estimated will cost $8,000. Then there are the permit applications the borough will have to file with the New Jersey Departments of Environmental Protection and Soil Conservation, and various other state and county authorities, which according to LaPaglia, will cost another $22,000. “So before you even put a shovel in the ground, you’ve spent $30,000,” he said.
According to Borough Administrator Ed Sandve, “We are just in the infancy stages of this project.” Therefore, the borough is not yet aware of the full legal and financial ramifications of undertaking a dredging of the ponds, which are located on privately owned property.
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Runoff exits the pond and flows into this aging drain under Saddle River Road and into the Musquapsink Brook. The concrete and earth surrounding the drain appear eroded and in disrepair.
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He said that the erosion surrounding the opening of the drainage pipe could simply be due to the age of the structure, and may not be an indication of the pipe’s inability to handle the output of the ponds. Sandve also pointed out that the damage to Saddle River Road may have less to do with the eroded pipe opening than with recent repaving that the county did on the road. “The County may have to go back and do repairs… We will follow up and make sure they do something.” He said that he has already been in contact with the county on the matter and expects to hear back soon on what the borough can expect in terms of county participation in the repair of not only the road surface, but the drainage pipe as well.
LaPaglia gave a very rough estimate of what the dredging and repairs to the dam would cost, saying that they probably wouldn’t exceed $75,000. However, if the soil is heavily contaminated the borough will be responsible for its safe transport and disposal, which would cost much more. But there is no way of knowing at this point what the case will be. Until the soil is tested, borough officials cannot speculate on the cost or make any concrete plans on what to do next. “We all want to do something, but it’s very preliminary yet,” said Sandve.
Assuming the ponds contain contaminated soil, who would foot the bill for the relocation? While property owners in Woodcliff Lake would likely assume some of the burden, it is also likely that the borough would be eligible for state or federal aid, given the larger environmental implications of agricultural contaminants being present in runoff basins that drain into the water supply.
On the flip side, if the soil is not contaminated at all, it could be a potential revenue source for the borough, said LaPaglia, since material dredged from ponds is valuable to landscaping companies for use as fertilizer and topsoil.
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com.
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