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Our Mission Statement:

The consequences of farmland development are a greater burden placed upon natural resources, increased demand on water supplies, increased housing density, congested roadways and a higher demand on all municipal services. Once we lose our farmland it's gone for good. Pemberton First is committed to encouraging the redevelopment and improvement of our neighborhoods and revitilization of the Browns Mills Town Center.
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Groundwater Impact

Septic systems are focus of study in Burlco

By CAROL COMEGNO
Courier-Post Staff

Burlington County is conducting a state-mandated, countywide study of the groundwater impact from septic systems, a comprehensive review that could further limit municipal development.

Until now, municipalities had been responsible for conducting their own waste water management study to determine the extent of sewer service areas, but most have no approved plan.

The state recently changed the water quality management rules, shifting the responsibility for such studies from municipalities to the county.

The county board of freeholders has awarded a $199,450 contract to consultant Camp Dresser McKee for the initial management study, but county officials said there are other costs as well as in-house staff time.

"This will be a comprehensive plan that is going to be expensive to implement, costly for years to come, very restrictive to the way towns can develop and could possibly affect land zoning," said county Freeholder William Haines Jr.

Although the state is giving Burlington County grants totaling about $200,000 to perform the study, Haines said there will be no state money to manage and implement the program once the study is complete.

He said the county has asked the state for an extension beyond Dec. 31 for submission of the study. In addition, state Assembly members Scott Rudder and Dawn Marie Addiego, both R-Burlington, are legislatively seeking a two-year delay.

Statewide, nearly all 566 municipalities have either outdated plans or no adopted plans, according to data from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"This is about planning for the future to prevent water quality degradation," said Gina Berg, county coordinator of water resources. "We have to determine the capacity of groundwater to carry wastewater from future development. For the most part, our water quality is good except for a few hot spots on the Rancocas and Assiscunk creeks."

Berg said it will expensive to map sewer service areas, determine if current mapping of those areas is accurate, calculate treatment capacity of plants and develop a management plan for areas to be served by septic systems because there is no sewer service.

"For the first time, the proposed water quality management planning rules address the impacts of septic systems on groundwater and establish new standards for wastewater management planning, removing environmentally sensitive lands from sewer service areas," Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said when the new rules were released.

Berg said the consultant will use rainfall and vacant land in its mathematical calculations to determine the capacity of the groundwater to accommodate the pollutant load, such as nitrates, from septic systems.

Because of environmental restrictions on wetlands and endangered species area, she said sewer service areas are seriously affected.

For example, the state recently designated some grasslands on Centerton Road in Moorestown as a habitat for an endangered bird species, the bobolink. Therefore, it can not be home to a septic system.

As another example, she said Route 206 does not have municipal sewer service. Therefore, if some want to see growth along that highway, the county would have to be asked by a developer to amend the wastewater plan and show the effect of wastewater.

The county will perform the management study for most or part of the 40 municipalities except for the five completely inside the Pinelands, such as Tabernacle and Shamong.

Pam Corolan, executive director of the Mount Laurel Municipal Utilities Authority, said all of its data has been submitted to the county.

She said the local sewer service area used to encompass the entire municipality except for some environmentally sensitive areas and that its sewage treatment plant was built to accommodate a build-out.

However, she said the state then decided to create its own map and was going to pull from the designated area any land that was not sewered or for which there was no sewer permit, such as the Rogers Walk apartment area on Route 73.

"We have met with the county to try to put those areas back into the plan because we believe the state was not using correct data," she said.

Reach Carol Comegno at (609) 267-9486 or ccomegno@courierpostonline.com

How Will Our Septic & Sewer Be Changed?

WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLANNING

The state has adopted new rules that affect all of us and how our sewerage (public & private septic) will be handled. Please take a look at the new rules by visiting the DEP website.

New Rules