Explained: Special Sewer Assessment Charge for Joint Meeting Litigation Expenses

Residents who recently received or will soon receive their annual bill for Sewer service will notice an additional charge in the amount of $25.00 per unit.  This charge is the result of an increase in the Village’s bill from the Joint Meeting, of which South Orange is a member.  The Joint Meeting  owns and operates the sewer treatment plant that receives South Orange sewage. The Joint Meeting increased South Orange and all other member town’s treatment bills to recoup costs and expenses incurred in defending environmental litigation arising out of pollution of the Passaic River.  Specifically, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ( DEP) filed a lawsuit to recover clean-up costs against a number of industrial property owners along the river who discharged chemicals and toxins into the Passaic River.  Regrettably, but predictably, those industrial owners filed Third Party lawsuits against every municipality and treatment plant that discharged treated sewage into the Passaic River; seeking to have them contribute to the clean-up costs.  The Joint Meeting has been forced to spend considerable funds on legal and other fees in defending this lawsuit.  Unfortunately, the Joint Meeting has no other option but to pass those costs through to the member towns on a proportional basis.

There are efforts ongoing to resolve this lawsuit, which include a possible settlement and a legislative proposal being advanced by our state representatives in the Assembly and Senate, which will hopefully put an end to these additional expenses.  For this reason, the Village decided to recoup these costs from sewer customers through a one-time special assessment, rather than simply increase the annual charges which would continue even if the litigation is resolved. 

Periodic updates on the litigation are provided by Village Counsel at Board of Trustee meetings and any significant events will be separately reported to the community on the website and through other media and social media outlets.  We urge residents to support the legislative effort to resolve the litigation by signing a petition to be submitted to the Governor and Legislature.  For additional information and to sign the petition visit:  http://www.njspillactbill.org/