If you see something, say something

“If you see something, say something” is the slogan of a government campaign, originally deployed by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to encourage citizens to report potential terrorist activity to the authorities before something catastrophic happens. 

The “major infrastructure failure” at New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant last week that resulted in no water for thousands of Monmouth County residents, a boiling water advisory for hundreds thousand of residents, and that will likely result in dead gardens, empty pools and dirty cars for the rest of the summer is an unfortunate lesson that we need to “say something” when our public utility companies are apparently putting our health at risk.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

How out of touch is the Asbury Park Press?

From facebook:

Why does the Asbury Park Press building on Rt 66 have their sprinklers on while they are reporting about the outdoor water ban??

• Tweet

Boil water advisory lifted for 18 of 22 Monmouth towns

If you live in Aberdeen, Highlands, Holmdel, or Middletown, keep boiling your water before consumption.

New Jersey American Water Company, Monouth OEM and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection have lifted the boil water advisory for:

Allenhurst Borough
• Deal Borough
• Eatontown Borough
• Fair Haven Borough
• Lake Como Borough
• Little Silver Borough
• Loch Arbor Village
• Long Branch City
• Monmouth Beach Borough
• Neptune Township
• Ocean Township
• Oceanport Borough
• Rumson Borough
• Sea Bright Borough
• Shrewsbury Borough
• Shrewsbury Township
• Tinton Falls Borough
• West Long Branch Borough

Bottled water will continue to be distributed to residents of Aberdeen, Highlands Holmdel and Middletown at Middletown High School North, 63 Tindal Road, Middletown, from the hours of 8am-7pm.  Residents are also encouraged to bring there own water jugs for filling at this location.

Residents of the towns where the boil water advisory has been lifted should run all cold water faucets for one minute at a time at the highest flow possible without causing splashing or flooding of drains.  Flush all automatic ice makers, make three batches of ice and discard.  Run water softeners through a regeneration cycle.  Run drinking water fountains at the highest flow possible for one minute.

The outdoor water usage ban remains in effect in all 22 towns affected by the NJAWC infrastructure failure.

• Tweet

Christie to Monmouth County Residents: Conserve water, don’t use fireworks

Water emergency to be repaired by July 4th

Gov. Chris Chrisite boarding a State Police helicopter on his way to address a power outage in Atlantic County after addressing the press in Monmouth County about the current water crisis. Photo by Art Gallagher

Oceanport, NJ- Governor Chris Christie implored Monmouth County residents to conserve water and to express their patriotism by not shooting off private fireworks for the duration of the water crisis caused by the major infrastructure failure at New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant.  Addressing the press at the Wolf Hill Recreation area in Oceanport, Christie said “if a lot of things go perfectly” the water crisis will be over by the July 4th holiday.

Christie announced that residents of twenty two towns should boil their water before drinking or cooking.  Those towns are : 

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Water Emergency Will Last Until At Least Sunday Evening

The water emergency caused by “a major infrastructure failure” at the New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant in Middletown will last until at least Sunday evening, according to an announcement on the Borough of Rumson’s website.

All Monmouth County residents are advised to refrain from non-essential use of water and to boil water before consumption.  Outdoor water use is banned until the state of emergency is lifted.

Governor Chris Christie and Cabinet Officials will be holding a press conference this afternoon, 1:45, at the Wolf Hill Recreation Area, Oceanport to update the public on the water main break situation.  MMM will be there.

• Tweet

OEM, freeholders declare ‘state of emergency’

All Monmouth County residents to follow mandatory water restrictions

Photo credit: Tony Fiore

TINTON FALLS, NJ – The Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management, in consultation with the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, declared a countywide state of emergency following a water main break at the Swimming River Reservoir Friday afternoon. All county residents have been directed to follow water restrictions.

Eighteen towns serviced by New Jersey American Water Co. have been directly affected. Three large water mains broke Friday afternoon, causing a reduction or total loss of water pressure or supply.

All county residents are directed to discontinue nonessential outdoor water use and limit indoor use. New Jersey American Water Company customers are urged to follow a “boil-water advisory.”

“All of Monmouth County is in a state of emergency because New Jersey American Water Co. may have to feed off other utilities throughout the weekend,” Freeholder Director John P. Curley said. “We need to pull together during this critical time and help one another by conserving water.”

“The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office is working closely with local law enforcement agencies to ensure that an outdoor water ban will be strictly enforced,” Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said. “These restrictions are not just for New Jersey American Water customers, but for everyone in Monmouth County. Cooperation is necessary in order to maintain public safety.”

The mandatory restrictions for all Monmouth County residents include the following:

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Tropical Storm Irene said to be cause of bridge damage at NJAWC water treatment plant

New Jersey American Water Company and Monmouth County OEM are distributing water at three locations

New Jersey American Water and the Monmouth County OEM have established three water distribution locations where customers may go to receive bottled water. Those locations are:

Middletown High School North
63 Tindall Road, Middletown Township

Middletown High School South
900 Nut Swamp Road Middletown

Oceanport Fire House
Mertyl Ave and Monmouth Ave, Oceanport

The bottled water will be distributed until 11PM or until they run out.

UPDATE 8PM: MMM reader Tom Stokes just called in to report that 1 gallon of water per household is being distrubted at Middletown High School North, regardless of the size of the household. Proof of residency is required to get bottled water.

UPDATE 9:20: Tom Stokes reports the there is no more bottled water to be distributed at Middletown North. NJAWC is waiting for more bottled water to be delivered.  They will be at North throughout the night and all day tomorrow, according to Stokes.

xx

Click on the map for a full view of the area affected by the NJAWC water shutdown.

The bridge that collasped this afternoon as part of the “major infrastructure failure” at New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant sustained damage during Tropical Storm Irene last August.

Nearby residents are claiming that repairs were not done after Irene and that the bridge was bound to collapse.

Former Tinton Falls GOP Chairman Michael Laffey, an attorney who practices in Holmdel said, “NO work has been done to repair the bridge in the last year. This mess was completely avoidable and someone should be held accountable.”

Richard Barnes, NJAWC’s External Affairs Manager, told MMM that he had no information on the cause of the infrastructure failure.  “Right now we’re concentrating on restoring service to our customers.  We’ll have more information at a later time.”   Peter Eschbach, Director of Communications and External Affairs for NJAWC told a MMM reader who prefers not to be named that “small repairs to the wood” were performed on the bridge after Irene.

Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore told MMM that “this doesn’t look like a quick fix,” after he inspected the site of the infrastructure failure this afternoon.  “Irene appears to be the gift that keeps on giving.  We don’t know for sure that the storm caused today’s incident, but we remember pointing out the damage to NJAWC last summer and don’t recall repairs being made since.”

The Asbury Park Press pay site is reporting that there is another water main break in Neptune that has left 1600 residences without water.

• Tweet

New Jersey American Water Monmouth County Customers Under Boil Water Advisory; Company Bans Outdoor Water Use

New Jersey American Water is urging its customers in Monmouth County to discontinue all nonessential water use and outdoor water use after three water mains collapsed at the company’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant in Tinton Falls.

New Jersey American Water has also issued a precautionary boil water advisory for customers in Monmouth County.

Please note that this is a standard procedure whenever water pressure is lost as a precaution. New Jersey American Water will provide information as to when the advisory is lifted.  

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection requires that the company issue the following advisory:

New Jersey American Water has determined that a potential or actual threat to the quality of water being provided to you currently exists. Therefore until further notice, bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute and allow to cool before using for consumption; drinking, ice cubes, washing vegetables and fruit, and for brushing teeth. Please continue to boil your water until you are notified that the water quality is acceptable.

New Jersey American Water also recommends the following steps:
• Throw away uncooked food or beverages or ice cubes if made with tap water during the day of the advisory;
• Keep boiled water in the refrigerator for drinking;
• Rinse hand-washed dishes for a minute in diluted bleach (one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of tap water) or clean your dishes in a dishwasher using the hot wash cycle and dry cycle.  
• Do not swallow water while you are showering or bathing;
• Provide pets with boiled water after cooling;
• Do not use home filtering devices in place of boiling or using bottled water; most home water filters will not provide adequate protection from microorganisms;
• Use only boiled water to treat minor injuries.

Please be advised that the company is doing all it can to ensure your water is of the highest quality. New Jersey American Water will notify customers immediately when the advisory is lifted.

New Jersey American Water is working on temporary measures to restore normal operations at its Swimming River Water Treatment Plant. The plant delivers 36 million gallons of water each day to 55,000 customer accounts.

For updates, customers can visit www.newjerseyamwater.com or www.facebook.com/newjerseyamericanwater.

• Tweet

Bridge collapse, water main break, reduces water for 55,000 Monmouth residents

Photo credit: Holmdel-Hazlet Patch

A “major infrastructure failure” at the Swimming River Water Treatment Plant in the Lincroft section of Middletown has shut the water off for 3,000 Holmdel residences and closed Brookdale Community College until further notice.

Holmdel-Hazlet Patch was the first to report the story, scooping the Asbury Park Press pay site by an hour.

A statement from New Jersey American Water Company that was emailed by the Borough of Tinton Falls to its residents and forwarded to MMM by a reader states that the failure includes the loss of two transmission mains leaving the plant and well as the raw water main coming into the plant.  New Jersey American Water customers in Monmouth County may be experiencing low water pressure or no pressure at this time.

Photo credit: lostcreekquarnberg blog

Residents of Middletown, Holmdel, Aberdeen, Highlands, Seabright, Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Oceanport, Shrewsbury Township and Borough, Tinton Falls and Long Branch are requested to limit all non-essential water use while NJAW works to restore service.

Save water, shower with friends.

UPDATE  4:32

Middletown Township sent out an automated phone call at 4:30 to residents and businesses announcing that all outdoor water usage is restricted.

• Tweet

Monmouth County Courthouse to reopen Tuesday at 1:30 PM

Officials don’t know what caused illnesses that befell over 70 people

The State Department of Health and Senior Services has given the green light to reopen the Monmouth County Courthouse which was closed last week due to over 70 people falling ill.

Laura Kirkpatrick, Public Information Officer, told MMM that normal court operations will resume on Tuesday, June 26 at 1:30PM.  State and county employees should report to work as instructed by their supervisors.

The announcement from the State Department of Health said that the Courthouse  indoor air tested within normal ranges for chemical and environmental contaminants.  However the announcement did not disclose the cause of the illnesses that occurred on Friday June 15th and again on Monday June 18th. 

Donna Leusner, Director of Communications for the department said that “we don’t know the definitive cause at this time.”

• Tweet