DEP Plans to Update Berkeley Heights' Sewer Service Area Map

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) held a public information session on Wednesday evening regarding its proposed updates to its sewer service area map for the township of Berkeley Heights.

The meeting, which was held at the Berkeley Heights Public Library at 290 Plainfield Avenue, was led by Clay Sherman, a representative from the DEP, who explained the changes to the sewer service area within the township.

Sherman stated during the meeting that its purpose was to encourage public input as far as what areas, if any, should be included or excluded in the township’s sewer service area in addition to what the DEP has laid out on the draft map.

“We’re here to say that, if we are mistaken, these are the avenues (to take)," said Sherman. “With this public outreach process, the state is trying to outreach to every municipality.”

“(We want to know) is this map correct, do you know anything that’s wrong?," continued Sherman. “If you know anything that’s wrong, this is how we can refute information on this map.”

To keep the lines of communication with the public open throughout the process, the DEP will accept written comments and information from the public related to the updates of the Berkeley Heights’ sewer service area map up until April 23.

Seven areas across Berkeley Heights—either defined as containing endangered species, wetlands, or other environmentally-sensitive land—are proposed by the DEP to be excluded from the sewer service area plan following the update.

Those areas will then be eligible for septic installation, as well as the low-density development allowed on areas with septic systems.

“They can be built upon," said Sherman. “It’s either you have sewer service area, which allows for high-density development, or you have septic, which is a low-density development (area).”

This project has been in the works since 1999, when then-Governor Christine Todd Whitman issued Executive Order EO-103, requiring the DEP to make these changes to areas that, for whatever reason, could be considered environmentally-sensitive. That executive order was then merged with N.J.A.C. Rule 7-15, which has been on the books since the late 1970s and regulates water quality management planning throughout the state.

“These regulations have been out there," said Sherman, “but wetlands have been updated (since 1999), and flood hazard control has been updated.”

Even though the regulations have been set since 1999, a delay in the area-assessment and updates associated with of this project was caused by a lack of DEP manpower to make the updates to sewer service areas across the state.

“The reason why (they’re just making the updates now) was, before, the state was dealing with about 180 different utility authorities (including towns and counties," said Sherman. “Now, we collapsed it down to about 19 counties (excluding Union and Bergen). It was just more of a workload thing; that was the big change.”

To view the preliminary draft of the sewer service area map for Berkeley Heights, please visit the following link: http://www.nj.gov/dep/watershedmgt/DOCS/20110323meeting_berkeley_heights_map.pdf.