Under the legislation, cities and towns would have to report sewage spills to the state Department of Environmental Protection within 24 hours
Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) in this 2008 file photo. Smith sponsored the bill, which would require cities and towns to alert residents if there was a sewage spill in their area.TRENTON —The chairman of the state Senate’s environment committee has introduced a bill to require that residents be told when and where outdated sewer systems overflow and spill a dangerous brew into New Jersey’s waterways.
Under the legislation, cities and towns would have to report sewage spills to the state Department of Environmental Protection within 24 hours. State officials would then be required to alert nearby residents online, through a radio or television announcement, and in a local newspaper.
Cities and towns would also be required to submit written reports detailing each spill to the state within five calendar days. At places where sewage spills routinely occur, municipalities would have to post signs warning people about the risk of the raw or diluted waste.
The bill comes in the aftermath of an article that appeared in The Star-Ledger in September saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is pressuring the Christie administration to crack down on antiquated sewer systems, which dump more than 23 billion gallons of waste into rivers and the ocean each year.
In most municipalities, separate pipes carry sewage to treatment plants and stormwater to rivers, streams and the ocean. But in towns with older systems, the same pipe carries both stormwater and sewage to a treatment plant.
Even small amounts of rainfall can cause the combined pipes to fill quickly and overflow in more than 200 places, mostly in northern New Jersey.
Despite the health risks posed the spills, the state does not require residents — including boaters, kayakers and fishermen — to be told when or where the sewage is flowing, making it nearly impossible to know if the water is safe.
State Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), sponsor of the legislation, said the new requirements will be discussed at a committee hearing on Thursday, and he hopes to approve legislation by spring to address the problem. A companion bill has not yet been introduced in the Assembly.
"I think it’s going to get a good vetting and we'll see if there are any issues," Smith said.
Maryland, Michigan and Indiana have laws requiring public notification when sewage spews into the water, and similar legislation is pending in New York.
In Philadelphia, a city-run website forecasts the safety of Schuylkill River and assigns color ratings to warn residents.
The commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, Bob Martin, has said his agency is considering new rules that would require cities and towns to post warnings and tell residents when and where sewage is overflowing.
He has also said he wants to produce a blueprint for municipalities on how to address the sewage spills over several decades in an affordable way. But federal environmental officials recently said they want Martin to move faster to ease the health risk posed by the overflowing sewage.
Contact with the bacteria-laden water often causes diarrhea and nausea, as well as more serious infections like hepatitis.
Related coverage:
• NJ must improve sewage systems, monitor water quality
• New legislation would require resident notifications of sewer system overflow