Franklin Street Follow Up: Engineer Says Pump Did Work

As the residents of in Vauxhall continue to pick up the pieces of their lives post-Hurricane Irene, the Union Township Engineer assures all that the pump station designed to evacuate flood waters from the neighborhood did work throughout the hurricane and since.

"I know this is small comfort to the neighbors of Franklin Street," said Philip Haderer.

In a phone conversation on Friday, Sept. 9, Haderer explained that the pump is part of a four component flood control plan for the neighborhood that was installed in 2002-2003 by the Township (not the Army Corps of Engineers, as previously reported by Patch). The components are:

• a low flood wall
• an earthen berm
• the pump station
• a standby electrical generator for the pump in the case of a power outage

Haderer said that representatives of Union Township Public Works were out checking on the pump at 9 p.m. on Saturday, August 27. "Everything was functioning," said Haderer who noted that, at that time, the river was low but rising fast.

At 3 a.m., an alarm sounded alerting DPW that the pump had stopped working. DPW responded and "had it operating within an hour," said Haderer. However, Haderer noted, the river was over the top of the flood wall at that time and the pump is designed to pump water from the neighborhood back into the river. "The station was not designed to evacuate that amount of water and even if it was it would be recirculating it" as the river had overflowed the wall.

"We needed for the water to recede," said Haderer.

After the water went back behind the wall, "the pump did the lion's share of the work."

But, said Haderer, the wall is another issue.

"When that wall was designed, the Township went to DEP for permits. The town wanted the walls higher — at Floyd level — but DEP denied that because they said that by constricting water at Franklin Street, it would aggravate downstream concerns." Haderer said he believes DEP was concerned about flooding in Cranford.

In addition, Haderer said that the wall was designed to protect against a 75-year storm event and Irene is being categorized as a 100-200-year storm event. In fact, Irene generated the worst flooding in the history of the Rahway.

He noted that the wall has protected the neighborhood through four storms since 2002-2003.

Again, Haderer said, "This is no comfort to the people on Franklin Street." Haderer continued, "This is a public issue that the state has to grapple with. It's a regional issue."

Franklin Street resident Lynda Rountree has reported that the pump did not work. In a letter sent to public officials and the media Rountree stated: "In 2007, when 9” of rain came down at a rapid rate, we the Franklin Street Neighborhood, all heard the pump switch on and run continuously throughout the night as it is very loud. It sounds like a diesel truck accelerating at a rapid pace. The sound is unmistakable to all of us residents. The average water in our basements from that storm in 2007 was only 2”. Granted, Irene, was larger, without the pump functioning, the average water in our basements was 5 feet. The generator is situated on top of the berm, roughly 75 ft from the condominium complex on Valley Street. One of the residents of this condominium complex said to me, 'We were all standing outside that evening, looking at the generator and wondering why it was not coming on.'”