MANCHESTER – Township officials discussed a variety of different water related concerns within the community notably the potential need to ration water in areas of the township due to water utility work, further talk of per-polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and future plans to restore Pine Lake.
A resident brought up an article from The Manchester Times about a recent Air Force Civil Engineer Center open house that focused on PFAS contamination and the potential of it to enter drinking water wells.
That forum was held to inform the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst’s surrounding communities on the Department of the Air Force’s private drinking water sampling program.
Even in small amounts the chemicals can cause some serious problems to a person’s health. Increased exposure has had a correlation to higher cholesterol levels, kidney and testicular cancer and impacts on the immune system, according to findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also interfere with liver function.
“It is very important to get tested. I think there is some testing going on,” a resident said noting that she had a cancerous growth discovered in her kidney. She and her husband had been in the military for almost 40 years. “We’ve never been ill until now and I’ve been going to the doctor for over a year.”
The resident added, “I’m interested in getting tested now because we have issues and what are the odds of a few people who live two doors apart have kidney issues where we have to have surgery? My surgeon got all my (stage one) cancer out but there is the possibility of it coming back. I’m just concerned because water comes out of the wetlands on our property. It collects and it sits there. I know there is testing going on by the base.”
Township Business Administrator Carl Block said “there is a link on the township website manchestertwp.com/. The Joint Base has maps of the sites being tested and the base is contacting anyone with a private well where those areas are mapped for testing of the well water and offering filters.
“The town is required to test the water as a licensed water purveyor. We have a contaminated well 4 but we already have filters on it (that were added last spring). We tested the well head and what is coming out of the ground and what we do to treat it is to use the filters. We are in the process of making upgrades and there will be quite a few in the coming years,” he added.
Block said for the individual well owners “they (Joint Base) said they were reaching out to about 25 people in that primary concern zone. There are three areas of concern and some are in Manchester. The primary area (is in the Pine Lake section) and there is a secondary area as well. That is sub surface water.”
“We have asked to put in additional monitoring wells and the mayor just signed off on two more to try and turn it around very quickly and one will be right here (Town Hall) in the parking lot,” Block added.
The business administrator said that this would help measure “how far it has gone and how deep it has gone and how fast is it going. Those are the questions. The Joint Base has a contractor doing it – Westin – who is doing soil samples. Most of the testing has been soil and sediment testing.”
Councilwoman Michele Zolezi sits on an Environmental Protection Agency local government advisory committee. “A few weeks ago I was in Washington sitting with other people from across the country and there are drinking water standards and existing standards in New Jersey and traditionally New Jersey and California are more stringent which is a good thing for those of us in New Jersey.”
She added, “you’ll see more about PFAS. Everyone is looking into it so you’ll hear more in the news and social media so you will see New Jersey change its drinking water standards but here we have always been very conservative.”
Dead Lake
Another resident brought up a question about efforts to restore Pine Lake which has been deemed unswimmable for several years. Council President Roxy Conniff said there are a lot of issues with Pine Lake and it is an extensive undertaking. It is something the Council has wanted to do something about for years and it will take a lot more than going in and dredging the lake.
Councilwoman Zolezi responded to a follow up question from the resident as to the Council’s plans for the lake saying, “the reason you can’t swim in the lake has nothing to do with the PFAS issue. There has been an uptick in the algae bloom and things like that. For a few years now I’ve been working with our director of public works along with some of our professionals to put together a plan to mitigate it.”
She noted that this would be a costly undertaking and that infrastructure priorities needed to be focused on but it was on the list of future projects.
Boil Water Advisory For Crestwood VI
Manchester Township Utilities recently reported that a water main break occurred at Alpine Road and Amherst Road in the township. The water main break caused customers within that service area to be without water or experience a significant loss of pressure during the assessment and repairs of the water main break.
Earlier this week it was noted that “a potential or actual threat to the quality of water being provided to you currently exists. As a precaution, we are implementing a limited Boil Water Advisory until testing of the water supply is deemed satisfactory.”
For those still experiencing problems or who have questions about what occurred, call the Manchester Township Utilities Office at 732-914-1200 and view updates at manchestertwp.com/
