In the last few months, the North Hudson Sewerage Authority has begun projects in North Hudson towns including Hoboken, West New York and Union City. Hoboken boasts eight projects either current or planned for the near future. But Union City and West New York are seeing their share of sewer projects, the need for which is immediate.
When those towns were built, one of the characteristics they shared was a Combined Sewer Overflow System (CSO). What this means is that both sewage and stormwater runoff are treated in a single system, instead of a dual system, such as the type that many suburban towns have.
A combined system was adequate in the early days of the twentieth century, when the population was still light and chemicals hadn’t yet made their way into the system.
According to The Environmental Report, a publication of the North Hudson Sewerage Authority, “CSOs present a variety of environmental problems. These problems arise in unusually heavy rains, or in a combination of heavy rains and high tides from the Hudson River, when the combined sewers cannot handle the additional water flow. When that happens, solids and floatables in the sewage and rain water end up in the Hudson River, instead of a treatment plant.”
And because, according to NHSA authorities, it is patently impossible to replace the entire system, the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has mandated that a series of treatment plants designed to capture floating debris larger than a half-inch be built at specified locations. One of those plants is to be built in West New York. Other sewer projects are planned for Union City.
Union City projects
According to North Hudson Sewerage Authority Executive Director and Chief Engineer Fred Pocci, Union City is and will be playing host to a number of sewer projects.
Said Pocci in a recent telephone interview, “In Union City, besides the regular repairs that go on, we are replacing a sewer line at Third Street and Paterson Plank Road. There were a lot of flooding problems up there.”
Continued Pocci, “The thing is, people don’t really talk about flooding problems in their homes. It’s an old part of town up there and problems only get discovered when things fail.” Pocci pointed out that this project was an upgrade and repair of an existing system and was not part of the overall DEP mandated project.
After receiving many complaints from Kerrigan Avenue residents concerning sewer backups in their homes, the authority performed an investigation and determined that the sewer capacity was inadequate for a storm with the intensity that historically occurs once in two years.
According to officials, the Authority replaced a section of the Kerrigan Avenue sewer between 19th and 20th Streets. The project consisted of replacing approximately 250 linear feet of 28 by 42- inch brick sewer with a 36-inch diameter PVC (plastic) sewer.
Since the completion of the Kerrigan Avenue project, Union City has announced that it intends to construct a brand new high school facility on present site of the Roosevelt Stadium. This school’s runoff will discharge water and waste directly to Kerrigan Avenue.
According to Director Fred Pocci, “They are planning a high school there and the mayor wants the sewer situation straightened out before the school construction starts. And now that we know what the plans are, we can conduct further studies to plan what changes will be necessary to handle the additional storm water and sanitary flow.”
West New York
Work has, according to Pocci, just begun on a brand new facility that will be built next to the existing sewage treatment plant on 60th Street and River Road.
The plant that exists there now is a sewage treatment plant that treats liquid sewage and removes most of the pollutants before the waste is deposited into the Hudson River.
The new construction will be a solid floatable waste facility that is designed to remove objects that are larger than a half-inch from the wastewater that flows through the plant. Any debris will be caught in large disposable nets. While this does not stop pollutants, it does filter out solid material which protects the aesthetics of the Hudson waterfront and beaches in the Metro Area.
There has been a setback of sorts though. Said Pocci, “We started blasting the rock next to the sewage treatment plant but we’ve found that the rock is so brittle that we had to send the designs back to the architect. So we’re on hold for a bit.” However, Pocci stated that he thinks the project will be completed by the fall of this year.
Added Pocci, “We’re going to do some decorative work to make the plant look a little more appealing to the eye, kind of like in Hoboken.”
The West New York project, according to Pocci, is slated to cost $6 million.
The North Hudson Sewerage Authority has a list of “don’ts” that can, according to company literature, keep down the cost of sewerage and wastewater treatment. The authority asks that residents don’t throw cans, wrappers or debris down catch basins. They also ask that residents don’t pour grease down kitchen drains or toilets. Additionally, residents are asked to refrain from pouring motor oils or other similar fluids down catch basins or drains and to dispose of hazardous materials properly and not in any part of the sewerage system.