Moorestown Enters Into Amended Consent Order For Water Treatment

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown is now permitted to grant approvals for certain water main connections or extensions after council approved an Amended Administrative Consent Order Monday night.

The Administrative Consent Order the township originally agreed to with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) on July 1, 2016, stipulates that Moorestown can't continue to operate Wells 7 and 9 at the North Church Street Water Treatment Plant until it receives approval from NJDEP. Those wells will be permanently closed in the absence of treatment. This is the first amendment to that consent order.

The amendment allows Moorestown to grant approvals for water main connections or extensions that don’t require an NJDEP permit for an additional 14,000 gallons per day (gpd). This will give Moorestown a maximum gpd of 54,000.

The original Administrative Consent Order capped gpd at 40,000. Moorestown had requested an upgrade to 60,000 gpd. Currently, Moorestown has approved just under the 40,000 gpd, but other projects are awaiting NJDEP approval before they can proceed.

In January of this year, Moorestown submitted an application for permanent treatment for Gross Alpha, Combined Radium 26 and 28, TCE, TCP 1,2,3 and Manganese. That application remains under review by NJDEP.

In April, Moorestown submitted applications for upgrades at the Hartford Road Treatment Plant and for modifications at the Kings Highway Water Treatment Plant, for pH adjustment. The Kings Highway plan was approved, and the upgrades were completed. The plant is operational, but is not yet operating at full capacity.

Once the Kings Highway Water Treatment Plant becomes fully operational and the township shows it can deliver water at its full capacity from that plant, it will be granted approval to grant any remaining approvals for any remaining water main connections or extensions that don’t require an NJDEP permit.

Two wells at North Church Street were shut down on Oct. 6, 2014, on NJDEP's recommendation after elevated levels of TCP 123, an unregulated contaminant, were found in the water. One well was reopened in June 2015, and the other was subjected to pilot testing.

The township announced that well would be closed once again in February while it enacted a temporary treatment and pursued a permanent solution. Moorestown purchased water from New Jersey American Water in the interim.

To see the full Amended Administrative Consent Order, visit moorestown.nj.us.

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