Wastewater Facilities Want NJ to Relax Measures Designed to Protect Water Supplies

Wastewater treatment companies recently asked the Christie administration to allow more pollutants to be discharged into New Jersey's rivers and streams.  URWA and a coalition of 17 other groups are opposing the proposed change in state Surface Water Quality Standards because we believe such a change would violate both the federal Clean Water Act and our state Water Pollution Control Act.

The wastewater facilities want to discharge effluent that exceeds human health criteria for nitrates and total dissolved solids as long as the health standards are met at the point of intake for drinking water use. In New Jersey, rivers are a supply source for major drinking water. By extending the "mixing zone" where pollutants exceed potable limits from the wastewater facility discharge pipe to drinking water intake points, the proposal would make longer stretches of rivers and streams unsuitable for swimming and fishing and would threaten the aquatic life that lives in these areas.

Nitrates are known to cause "blue baby syndrome", which can be fatal. Cumulative discharge of nitrates also has significant downstream ecological effects on bays, estuaries and the ocean, contributing to excessive eutrophication and oxygen free "dead zones".  Besides nitrates and dissolved solids, the proposal will also increase the amount of pesticides and other chemicals as well as un-metabolized pharmaceuticals, none of which are screened out of treated wastewater.

Under the state Administrative Procedures Act, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has 60 days from its July 19 publication in the New Jersey Register to grant, deny or seek an additional 30-day extension to render a decision on this wastewater petition, which was submitted by the Association of Environmental Authorities.  We urge all of our members and friends to read the petition and our letter of objection to the DEP, and then contact DEP to offer your own comments regarding the inadvisability of granting the petition and allowing more of our state's waters to become polluted.