For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 509-558-9100
The Highlands Council has approved up to $515,300 in funding for six projects that will address stormwater, wastewater and lake management. The projects are in Passaic, Morris, and Sussex Counties and include stormwater mapping, wastewater research, watershed assessment, lake management, and transportation planning.
‘Given the problems with our lakes, any money that is going to towns is important. The Highlands Council giving out this $500,000 is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the state of New Jersey isn’t funding stormwater management or cleanup where we should be. We had seen serious problems with both Greenwood Lake and Lake Hopatcong this summer, proof that our stormwater management system has failed. Meanwhile, the state took $2 million from harmful algal blooms to fix the budget this summer. They also haven’t released most of the $13.5 million algae grant program, including some funds for Greenwood Lake,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Giving out $500,000 is like trying to empty Lake Hopatcong with a bucket. It’s not going to work.
The awards include up to $200,000 to West Milford Township to conduct a regional watershed based assessment, $70,900 to West Milford to develop a single Geographic Information System (GIS) map of the complete stormwater infrastructure system and a database of stormwater information for the township, $100,000 to Jefferson Township to conduct a wastewater feasibility study, $60,000 to Mount Arlington for a beach restoration project, and $60,000 to Stanhope Borough to develop a Water Use and Conservation Management Plan.
“This $500,000 isn’t even a downpayment to get the job done. We need real action from the local, regional, and state level in order to deal with our HABs crisis. Towns need to be implementing stormwater utilities. The Highlands Council has the power to do more than just these grants. They can help retrofit stormwater basins, restore stream corridors and buffers, and other things that can help deal with non-point pollution. They also need to get rid of Christie’s rollbacks to the Highlands Septic Density Rules,” said Jeff Tittel. “It is also concerning that one of these grants is going to conduct a wastewater feasibility study in Jefferson Township. Sewering could actually make things worse because you lose freshwater but have more polluted stormwater runoff. Fixing septic systems and having septic maintenance plans is a much better system.”
As part of the NJ Interim Budget this summer, New Jersey eliminated $2 million from Harmful Algal Blooms. Freshwater HABs are formed from bacteria carried in by nutrients primarily from septics and lawn and garden fertilizer. The algae can cause severe skin rashes. If swallowed the polluted water can cause abdominal pain, headaches and vomiting. Pets should also be kept away from water where the algae blooms are present.
“The state has failed to adequately protect our lakes. They got rid of programs to help clean up our lakes, and they have actually weakened the standards for harmful algae blooms with their new color-coded system. They used to have a protective standard. Now they are letting people swim at their own risk until levels are twice the health-based standard and people can still use the lake until levels are 4 times the standard,” said Tittel. “At blue ‘watch’, algae levels are over 20,000 which can be lethal to dogs and cause earaches and other ailments to people. Now, you can ‘watch’ the algae get worse as you swim and you may end up getting sick from it.”
In order to effectively deal with harmful algal blooms, NJ DEP needs to establish stream buffers and enforce real Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standards. They need to strengthen rules on stormwater management and bring back Septic Management Districts. They also need to restore the state’s Lake Management Program. Out of the money set aside for dealing with HABs, the state is raiding $2 million to address the current budget shortage.
“New Jersey has still failed to move forward on any major initiatives to clean up our lakes and coast, whether it is TMDLs, stormwater management, or restoration funding. We need tougher stormwater management to limit phosphorus coming from animals and septic and the use of lawn fertilizers containing nitrogen. We also need to fix aging infrastructure and reduce nutrients from failed septics, leaky sewers and combined sewer overflows. DEP needs to get rid of Christie’s rollbacks and put together a Lake Management Plan and Watershed Protection Plan. They should also be using nonstructural systems like restoring wetlands and stream corridors, installing green and blue roofs, and using rain gardens and wet ponds,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “DEP needs to take strong action to protect our lakes and their watersheds, otherwise our lakes could end up dying.”