Reservation Stink May Be Connected to Sewers

The Nutley hazmat team's testing of the water in that area of the reservation was inconclusive, and the matter was turned over to the state Department of Environmental Protection for further testing. The Millburn Fire Department was first called to the area of the reservation near Tulip Springs, which is near the West Orange border, on Thursday.

"We do know it's not chemical," said Lt. Thomas Nicollette, of the Nutley Fire Department and the hazmat team, which covers the whole of Essex County. "There's nothing industrial in the area, and there is no way someone can get in there to illegally dump."

The hazmat team's tests were inconclusive and only showed water, he said. "It's just some kind of funky water." The state DEP will send someone in to test the water quality and analyze if there's a sewer link, he said.

The bigger problem is the area where the Rahway River starts and travels through Maplewood and Millburn and to the area of Perth Amboy, Nicollette said. Also, Maplewood and Millburn use the river as drinking water after it has been treated, he said.

The hazmat team hasn't been able to determine where the pipe in the area of the odor comes from, but it probably originates at Cherry Lane in Millburn, he said.

"We just can't prove that without a map," he said.

The reservoir in the area is utilized by the City of Orange, but it's not used that much, he said.