New Jersey to Resolve Clean Water Act Violations

The New Jersey Municipal Utilities Authority is to invest $52m in upgrading and renovating the state’s water infrastructure to resolve Clean Water Act violations.

The water authority will pay a civil penalty of $375,000 as part of a settlement reached with the federal government for failing to properly operate and maintain its combined sewer system.

Under the settlement, the authority will conduct evaluations to identify the problems that led to the release of untreated sewage into the Hackensack River, Hudson River, Newark Bay and Penhorn Creek, and will complete repairs to 25,000ft of sewer lines over the next eight years.

The authority will spend $550,000 on removing privately owned sewers and replacing them with direct sewer connections to create a better wastewater collection.