New plan targets pollution of Branchport Creek
Racetrack upgrades will stem storm water runoff
BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer
Anew plan to end the pollution of Branchport Creek outlined last week calls for measures including detention basins, vegetative fields and a pumping station at Monmouth Park in Oceanport.

Detailed renderings of the proposed Elkwood storm water detention basin to be located near the backstretch portion of Monmouth Park racetrack.

On May 11, officials with the racetrack and the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority (NJSEA) held a town hall-style meeting at Oceanport Borough Hall to unveil the plan to reduce the amount of storm water from Monmouth Park that enters Branchport Creek.

The proposed upgrades call for the construction of a roughly 4-acre detention basin, a pump station and a series of drainage piping that could reduce the amount of contaminated runoff from the horse track to virtually zero.

"The objects ultimately are to improve the water quality of the Branchport Creek and to assure that the track complies with a permit requirement the DEP has for concentrated animal feeding operations," explained Brian McPeak, an engineer with the Warren-based, PS&S Integrated Design and Engineering, the engineering firm that is handling the design and implementation of the project.

An architectural rendering of the proposed pumping station that is expected to be constructed as part of Monmouth Park's new storm water management project.

"Basically what we have is a situation where there is storm water management on the facility, but it requires upgrade and some improvements in order to better control and manage storm water flows and improve some water quality," McPeak said.

Plans for the storm water system improvement project call for the construction of an improved storm sewer system to collect runoff from the [Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations] CAFO areas; the construction of a pumping station to convey the collected waters to a detention basin; the construction of a vegetated detention basin that will have the ability to hold 7.8 million gallons of water and feature 2.7 acres of constructed wetlands; and the construction of a force main to convey the detained water from the basin to the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority (TRWRA) up to a maximum of 500,000 gallons of water a day.

The improvement project will be broken down into a fourphase plan that will be implemented over a four-year period and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2012.

According to McPeak the project will not disrupt the operation of the racetrack.

Under state statute, Monmouth Park must provide a certain number of horseracing days each year. If the track fails to meet this requirement, it would be in violation of the statute.

The first phase of the roughly $22 million project has already begun and has seen gutters placed on the roofs of the majority of the structures around the park property including the backstretch area where the horse stalls are located.

According to Don Sharp, the lead engineer with PS&S on the project, runoff from the roofs of the park's structures is considered clean and can be released into the creek without the fear of it contaminating the waters.

However, that water is currently collected with the same contaminatedwater as the rest of the park. With the addition of gutters on the park structures, the water will now be able to be separated from the park's contaminated water and sent out to the creek.

In addition to the separation of the roof runoff from the contaminated water, the first phase also includes upgrades to the park's drainage pipe connection with TRWRA.

The second phase of the project will see the infield pond, located at the center of the park's main track, drained and turned into a wetlands area.

"The idea is that we are going to take the wet pond and turn it into a constructed wetlands," Sharp explained, adding that the plants in the new infield basin will act as a biofilter for pollutants that enter it.

"The storm water enters into the vegetation," Sharp explained. "The vegetation will trap the sediment and [the water] will percolate down like a sand filter."

According to Sharp, by replacing the infield pond with constructed wetlands, the project will eliminate a bacterial incubator for much of the run off from the track area.

"Presently [the pond] is relatively shallow and on a summer day will just sit there and fecal coliforms will grow, a storm will come through and then wash everything out to the river," Sharp said, adding that such events are a major cause of the fecal coliforms found in the creek.

In addition to the infield wetlands area, the second phase of the project will also see the construction of a second detention basin in the area near the backstretch of the park in the Elkwood section of the property.

The second basin, which will be roughly 4 acres in size, will be a similar construction to the infield pond; however, once the water is filtered through the vegetation, it will be pumped to the TRWRA, where it will be treated and then released into the creek, Sharp explained.

The third and forth phases of the project will see the construction of a pump station to send the waste water from the Elkwood basin to the TRWRA as well as other portions of the drainage system.

According to John Duffy, vice president of engineering construction and regulatory affairs at Monmouth Park, the completed storm-water management project is expected to eliminate the vast majority of the contamination of the creek by Monmouth Park.

When completed, the project is expected to protect the area against water levels associated with a 25-year storm event.

Should such a storm take place, Duffy explained, the retention basins designed for the project should be able to handle slightly more wastewater than the storm could produce.

However, if a 100-year storm event were to take place, the wastewater basins and drains would act to prevent the complete failure of the system, Duffy said.

The entire $22 million project is expected to be financed through a low-interest loan provided by the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust Fund.

The entirety of the loan, Duffy explained, will be paid back by the NJSEA and not by taxpayers.

While the project is expected to combat and eventually eliminate the contamination of the Branchport Creek by the racetrack, Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-12th District), who was at the meeting, questioned why the process would take four years.

"The timeline is really too long for my liking," Beck said.

"I would think we could negotiate a better period of time to do some of this work. It's an urgent situation as you know."

Beck went on to say that she would be in contact with the state DEP to see if the application process for the project can be fast-tracked.

"Racing is an important industry to New Jersey, but not more important than the safety of our environment," Beck said.

In addition to Beck, other public officials on hand for the meeting included District 12 Assembly members Declan O'Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande as well as representatives from Congressman Rush Holt's office and members of the Oceanport Borough Council.

Prior to the NJSEA presentation, representatives from Holt's office handed out a letter Holt sent to Lisa P. Jackson, the administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In his letter, Holt skewers the NJSEA and Monmouth Park for "dumping waste into the creek," and calls for the EPA to launch an investigation into the park's dumping of waste into the creek.

"I am deeply concerned that the Monmouth Park Racetrack continues to dump waste in the Branchport Creek," Holt said. "This practice has caused bacterial levels to reach a dangerous level, which is a health risk to the public and to the environment."

In a statement issued after the May 11 meeting, O'Scanlon said he was glad to see a solution to the pollution problem at the creek at hand.

"We have been working with the residents and the borough of Oceanport, the people at Monmouth Park and the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority to stop the pollution at Branchport Creek that has been making the water unsafe for several years," O'Scanlon said. "I am hopeful that we've finally found a solution."

Since 2006, the Branchport Creek has been off limits to recreational use by residents due to high levels of fecal bacteria deposited into the waterway by Monmouth Park.

The creek is currently lined with signs warning residents not to enter the water, or eat any fish or crabs caught from it for health reasons.

In 2006, a Long Branch-based advocacy group known as the Rivergate Keepers formed in response to the pollution in the creek. In 2008, the group gained the support of Clean Ocean Action (COA), an ocean advocacy group, in its goal of ending the contamination of Branchport Creek.

The two groups eventually joined together, pledging to monitor area waterways to ensure that Monmouth Park "does the right thing" and stops discharging what they said was bacterialaden waste into the creek.

The Branchport Creek, which runs between Oceanport and Long Branch, is a tributary of the Shrewsbury River. The river meets with the Navesink River before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.