Oyster Point and Marine Park sources of river pollution
Boro taking action with new info from DEP
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

The state Department of Environmental Protection has found traces of human source bacteria pollution in the Navesink River (above and below) close to Oyster Point and Cooper's Bridge. DEP representative Eric Feerst gave a presentation last week at Red Bank Borough Hall about the findings of the pollution study.

RED BANK - Three sites in the borough were found to be the major sources of human waste contamination in the Navesink River, according to a presentation last week by Eric Feerst, section chief at the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The three sites causing pollution of the river include the Oyster Point, Marine Park/Riverview Medical Center and the north end of Maple Avenue, he said.

Feerst presented the findings of a study which took place since October 2006 at a meeting of the Navesink River Municipalities Committee (NRMC) at Red Bank Borough Hall last week.

The study of bacteria levels in the Navesink River was conducted through a cooperative effort between the NRMC, the Monmouth County Planning Board, the DEP and the Monmouth County Health Department.

PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ staff

Water samples were taken at 41 locations, both close to the land in Red Bank and in the middle of the river.

Feerst said that bacteria can come from both animal and human sources, and that different methods were used to determine the sources of the pollution.

One of the identification methods used during the study is known as Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR).

"This identifies E. coli that is resistant to antibiotics," Feerst said. "Those that are resistant are typically of human origin."

According to a chart Feerst presented, human source E. coli is resistant to an antibiotic typically used by humans: amoxicillin.

Sampling at Swimming River, Cooper's Bridge and the Navesink River close to Riverview Medical Center all showed high levels of human source E. coli.

Feerst said that levels of bacteria are often highest after a rainfall because when it rains, bacteria will flow with the water from above ground and underground sources into nearby bodies of water.

"In older towns," he said, "with an older infrastructure, you often get this situation as well."

In recent years, Red Bank has experienced some problems with its sewer lines, most of which are 100 years old, according to Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels.

In October 2004, a sewer main broke under Maple Avenue, and the borough spent $1 million to fix the line that had collapsed.

Christine Ballard, of T&M Associates, the borough's engineering firm, said the results of the study had already been helpful in identifying points in need of repair throughout the borough.

"Red Bank compiles a capital improvement program every year," she said, "with over $1 million going to fix the roadway and the subsurface infrastructure."

Ballard said that the borough has been gradually upgrading its water and sewer utility, but that the borough has limited capability in doing water sampling itself.

"The Monmouth County Department of Health has done some sampling for use," she said, "as well as the NJDEP. We are using their data to prioritize our effort, by isolating potential sources [of bacteria pollution]."

Ballard said that the borough has been proactive in upgrading its infrastructure, but that it is a daunting task.

"The infrastructure is well over 100 years old," she said. "The town was incorporated in 1908, and the water and sewer lines go back further than that."

Borough Engineer Richard Kosenski said that a repair in the sewer line was recently made at the west end of Drs. James Parker Bouelvards, which was another point at which the study found significant levels of human source contamination."

Kosenski said that additional problems of contamination come from cross connections between the water and sewer lines.

"The county is helping us do some analysis to find cross connections," he said.

Sickels said that often these cross connections happen by mistake, when a plumber believes he is tying a line into the sewer main, but is actually connecting to the water main.

"We've discovered two or three cross connections in the past few years," he said.