Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER -- United Water Toms River has not yet received permits for a new well that would help the company meet customers' summer water demands, and United's president has asked state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert C. Shinn Jr. to expedite the permitting process.
In a Feb. 18 letter to Shinn, United President Frank J. DeMicco asked the commissioner to issue all permits necessary for Well 46, a new well off Whitesville Road that will pump water from a shallow aquifer and store it deep below ground for use during the summer months. The storage system is called aquifer storage and recovery.
DeMicco also asked the commissioner to expedite the permit process necessary for United to convert existing wells 42 and 45 to the aquifer storage system.
DeMicco said since United has not yet received DEP permits for Well 46, that well, which is expected to supply up to 3 million gallons of water daily, "will not be available to assist us in meeting our peak demand periods this summer."
DEP officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
United officials had hoped the new well would be available for a two- to three-week period this summer, but that was only if the company had been able to start construction of the well earlier this month.
"At this point, we don't think it's possible to get the new well in service to do anything for us this summer," said United Water spokesman Richard Henning. "We were certainly hoping we'd have the extra capacity for this summer. It's unfortunate that the time frame is slipping away."
United officials said they first discussed the aquifer storage system with the DEP in mid-November, and met with DEP officials in early January to discuss it further. DeMicco said the company has complied with all DEP requests for more information.
In his letter, DeMicco asked that Shinn consider granting United an additional 800,000 gallons in daily capacity this summer for wells 42 and 45, to help make up for the loss of Well 46 as a potential new source of summer supply.
DeMicco also asked for permission to continue using Well 31, located off Whitesville Road, while the new Well 46 is under construction.
Well 42 is located at the parkway well field, and 45 is at the parkway south well field. Together, the two wells provide about 2.7 million gallons of water daily. Both wells tap into the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer.
United must receive DEP permission to withdraw more water from the two wells, and to keep well 31 operating while the new well is being drilled.
United officials have pressed for the new aquifer storage well and the conversion of the existing wells to minimize reliance on parkway wells 26 and 28. Those two wells control a plume of ground water contamination that seeps into the well field from the Reich Farm Superfund site, off Route 9.
The two wells are treated to remove chemicals. Water from the wells is pumped to waste and not used in the drinking water system except in emergency situations. The wells have not been used since the summer of 1997, but DeMicco said in his letter that the company's "capacity to meet water demands during the summer has been adversely affected by the water quality concerns surrounding" the two wells.
With wells 26 and 28 unavailable except during emergencies, United Water lost about 1.4 million gallons daily in potential water supply at the same time the company has added about 2,000 customers over the past two years, DeMicco wrote. The new aquifer storage and recovery wells would allow the company to meet increasing demand for water without using wells 26 and 28.
Published: February 24, 2000
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