Edison to receive $270K for sewer repairs
Money will recoup repair costs incurred after last spring's nor'easter
BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer
The township of Edison will be receiving $270,009 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recoup the costs of repairing sewer lines damaged during last year's pounding nor'easter. Added to the $40,035 the township has already received from the federal agency, the costs for repair on the lines will now be completely recouped.

The announcement was made by township spokesman Jerry Barca on Dec. 6.

Public Works Director Jeff Roderman said that last April's storm caused damage to the township sewer system in a number of ways. In some areas, the lines were simply overloaded from having to handle such a large volume of storm water, and they just cracked under the added pressure. Others collapsed due to proximity to eroding streambeds, leaving them exposed and vulnerable. Sewer pipes were damaged around Amboy Avenue, Route 1 north, East Side Avenue, the Mill Brook trunk line, and a pump station that, while technically located in Metuchen, services Edison.

"What the pump stations do is convey sewage to another point, so you have a gravity line where the sewage is running into the station, through a series of pumps, and they come in based on the volume and pump

that into a higher

point where you

would get to

without being

forced; these

are down low in

elevation, and

the water levels

go to the point where the station went under and the equipment fails, and you bypass that with auxiliary pumping," said Roderman.

He said that with one exception, all lines that were broken during the storm last year are now repaired and were made stronger than before in case such a storm happens again. The township assessed the costs of the repairs and the federal government reimbursed the town.

During the storm, according to Roderman, Edison was hit "fairly hard overall." Several roads needed to be closed, and some residents even had to leave their homes. The American Red Cross had to distribute about 100 flood cleanup kits from the Edison municipal building. Roderman said that after the storm was over, while there was damage to roads and personal properties, the damaged sewer lines represented the most severe consequence.