Politics & Government

Officials OK New Water Line Service to Contaminated Area

73 properties on Parker Road in Chester Township will receive clean drinking water by early next year.

Nearly two decades and more meetings with various governing bodies than one cares to count, Chester Township and the Washington Township Municipal Utilities Authority have finalized an accord that will bring clean water to 73 properties on Parker Road.

Chester Township Mayor Bill Cogger, Washington Township Municipal Utilities Authority Executive Director Mike Pucilowksi and WTMUA board member Walt Cullen came together Wednesday afternoon to finalize the agreement between the two sides.

Beginning August 19 and scheduled to last through April of 2014, nearly two miles of Parker Road between Washington Township and Chester Township will be torn apart to connect 73 properties to a current public water system that serves the southern portion of Long Valley.

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The water line will bring clean drinking water to those 73 properties, which currently use private wells. 

The work will be completed by the Environmental Protection Agency at a cost of $7.3 million. The residents using the water will be billed by Washington Township on a quarterly basis.

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The area’s water was deemed contaminated in 1983 when the nearby Combe Fill South Landfill, which was a landfill for Morris County, was added to a Superfund list of most contaminated hazardous waste sites in 1983.

Tests showed a chemical named 124 Dioxin was found in the drinking water, Cogger said, and the water was not able to be treated properly to subtract the toxin.

With the addition of the water flow, a new well is being opened behind the WTMUA’s building on East Mill Road, Pucilowski said, and a booster pump is being installed at Old Farmers Road School.

The water line construction will connect homes and businesses on Parker Road, School House Lane and a portion of Route 24, the EPA said.

“It does good for both towns,” Cogger said. “Residents in Chester get much needed clean water, and Washington Township is able to extend its line and serve more customers.”

If construction goes as planned, water should be turned on for those properties in January or February of 2014, Pucilowski said.


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