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POMPTON LAKES - Dam logs removed
(by Leslie Scott - Staff Writer - September 03, 2008)
POMPTON LAKES - One wish finally came true for residents in a flood-prone area of the borough — the logs that collected along the Pompton Lake Dam have finally been removed.
It took a construction crew hired by the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission (NJDWSC) three days to complete the task last week.
For months borough officials have been unsuccessful at getting the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the NJDWSC to get this done, and no one from these offices would budge.
Seeing many large logs and tree limbs piled along the dam concerned residents and the public officials.
“We were worried that if there is a high water event that those logs will become like projectiles. Something that big going at the rate of the current could do an awful lot of damage or hurt someone,” said Mayor Katie Cole.
Cole said they were also concerned that the logs would fall over and become jammed in the gate.
After months of asking, Pompton Lakes got the 26th Legislative District involved.
Republican State Senator Joe Pennacchio said getting all of the involved parties on the same page was key to accomplishing the project.
“We sat in a room with the DEP and the NJDWSC and we told them our frustrations and we told them what our needs were and on this point they agreed,” he said.
Pennacchio said that there were many issues up in the air and each party has its own special interest involved — the DEP has concerns for aquatic life, the NJDWSC is in the business of selling water, and municipalities are worried about flooding.
“It's not just this issue. It is also the de-silting and dredging (of the river), the buyout of all the houses (in severe flood areas), when the flood gates open, how soon they open, how long they stay open and what the triggering mechanism is,” the senator said.
The borough has advocated that the NJDWSC empty some water from the reservoirs prior to heavy storms.
“The conflict is, the NJDWSC sells this stuff and it doesn’t want to get rid of it,” said Pennacchio.
Pennacchio said his concern is the people.
“I want to make sure that water doesn’t go into somebody’s basement or flood somebody’s house out. That is the balance that we have,” he said.
Speaking of DEP and NJDWSC, he said, “I appreciate their job and I hope they appreciate my job.”
Dave Rosenblatt, administrator of DEP’s Office of Engineering and Construction, said they have been aware that these logs needed to be removed.
“It’s a good time to do it right now because it is a low flow in the river and it is a more manageable operation to do at this time,” said Rosenblatt.
There are plans to make removing the logs part of routine maintenance that will be performed by the NJDWSC, he added.
“They are doing it under contract. It will be part of the routine maintenance,” said Rosenblatt.
The dam, located in Wayne Township, is on private property that NJDWSC owns. The DEP is in charge of the operation of the dam gates, but it has given NJDWSC authority over the daily operation of the facility, which includes maintenance.
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