Officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection are scheduled to present the results of a recent study of fecal coliform in the Navesink River Wednesday night.
The news isn’t good.
The meeting of Navesink River Municipalities Committee “is of particular interest to Red Bank, because it will show huge plumes of [fecal] coliform” emanating into the river from three storm sewer outfall pipes, says Edward Pitts, a member of the Monmouth County Environmental Council.
“The knowledge that that is happening will basically require Red Bank to clean up it’s act, because that’s where the pollution sources are,” Pitts says.
A draft of the Upper Navesink River Storm Water Study released in November found fecal coliform levels 16 times those considered safe for swimming during and after three storms. The problem locations were at the foot of Maple Avenue; in the area of the NJ Transit rail bridge and the West Front Street bridge; and in the vicinity of Riverview Medical Center.
The bacteria was believed to have come from human, not animal, waste. Borough officials at the time said that leaky sanitary sewer lines were a probable culprit.
The Navesink River Municipalities Committee includes representatives from Red Bank, Rumson, Fair Haven, Tinton Falls, Colts Neck and Middletown.
The meeting, at Red Bank Borough Hall, begins at 7:30p.
