Rumson pollutes state waters as Boro Administrator hides violations
Borough Administrator and Clerk Tom Rogers failed to notify residents of nine environmental violations.
Rumson - The Borough of Rumson received a notice for discharging pollutants into state waters in April of 2024, according to documents obtained by CJN. Borough Administrator and Clerk Tom Rogers failed to notify residents of the dumping, and has continued to not notify residents, including omitting the violations notice from an OPRA request. Rogers also serves as the head of the Office of Emergency Management for the Borough which oversees sewer operations.
A Notice of Violation from the Department of Environmental Protection was sent to the Borough on April 16, 2024, citing nine violations of New Jersey’s Water Pollution Control Act. Rumson received eight violations regarding the illegal discharge of of pollutants into State waters without a valid permit and one violation with regard to the Borough’s failure to provide adequate pumping capacity as required by state regulations.
The notice describes manhole overflows of an estimated 100,000 gallons of discharge making their way into the Shrewsbury River brought on by about heavy rain. An incident report from the NJDEP stated that “sewage, clear water with no visible solids, was mostly entering surcharged storm drains on Shrewsbury Avenue that discharge to the Oyster Bay section of the Shrewsbury River.” NJDEP staffer Anthony Rotondo performed the initial investigation on April 4th, 2024, meeting with Rumson operators Ron Sickler and Cody Burbank.
“Mr. Sickler stated that the issue is the upstream Avenue of Two Rivers South Pump Station dumps into the above manhole where it would normally flow, via gravity, to the downstream Grant Street Pump Station,” the incident reported noted.
“However, a combination of the high flow from the Avenue of Two Rivers South Pump Station and the flow backing up from an overburdened Grant Street Pump Station is resulting in sewage exiting the above manhole. Mr. Sickler stated that this can also occur whenever both pumps are on at the Avenue of Two Rivers South Pump Station, regardless of any issues at the Grant.”
The remainder of the sewage was on the roadway and entering a downstream storm drain which leads to what Rumson residents’ call Polly’s Pond, the report notes. Neither Sickler nor Burbank were available for comment.
The report notes that Sickler was instructed by NJDEP to have pump trucks remove as much sewage as possible from the area to at least minimize the impact of the discharge.
Internal emails reveal that both Rogers and Borough Engineer David Marks were notified of updates from Sickler who coordinated for tanker trucks to come stop the overflow. In an April 8th email to the NJDEP, Sickler noted that on April 5th “175,000 gallons were collected” and “roughly 75,000 was saved from going in the river.” The same email shows that 145,000 gallons were collected with roughly 45,000 saved. on April 7th. 45,000 gallons were collected and 10,000 were saved. Discharged ceased by 11:00 PM on April 7th.
Sickler then warned of rain coming towards the end of that week. Overtime was paid to Rumson employees who oversaw the trucks.
The allegedly abnormal flooding was not a mere hiccup in March and April - its been an ongoing issue.
On January 13th, 2024, a call was placed to the NJDEP (Case No. 24-01-13-085-53) estimating a discharge of approx. 100 gallons a minute. Another call was placed to the NJDEP on March 7th (Case No. 24-03-07-1656-20) citing the same discharge rate at a recorded 14 hours of overflow, eventually stopping on March 8th.
On March 11th, yet another call was placed to the NJDEP (Case No. 24-03-11-0058-03) citing 34 hours of overflow at 100 gallons a minute. March 23rd yielded 25 hours of overflow (Case No. 24-04-03-1312).
On April 3rd, the NJDEP visited Rumson, thus beginning the aforementioned incident report. Rogers was notified of the previous incidences, emails reveal.
After an initial tip from a resident, CJN sent a public records request to the NJDEP and to the Borough of Rumson on November 11th asking for any notices sent from the NJDEP to Rumson between January of 2024 and July of 2024, as well as respective replies from the Borough. The NJDEP replied swiftly and thoroughly.
The same can’t be said for Administrator and Clerk Rogers.
Rogers, in an email sent to CJN, acknowledged receipt of the OPRA request, but asked “Can you give us more detail on what you are looking for in the way of ‘notices’?” He later told CJN that “title you gave to the request is EPA or Environmental Protection Agency, a Federal agency. The description on the first page lists ‘notices’ from the NJ Department of Environmental Projection.”
Rogers was referencing the file name of the OPRA request. Both the request and email subject line made clear that the NJDEP was the subject of the inquiry. CJN responded to Rogers defining the scope of a notice, stating:
A “notice” is quite common - it is a letter, either physical or electronic, sent from one party to another informing them of something (EG: a violation, a piece of news, a project update etc.)
On Friday, November 22nd, Deputy Municipal Clerk Eric Paone-Hurd sent a zip file of over 77 items to CJN including Weekly Update newsletters from the NJDEP sent to municipal Mayors and leaders and files relating to land use.
What Rogers failed to send was the April 16th Violations Notice sent to the Borough and the response from David Marks, the Borough Engineer and Floodplain manager - the two things covered by CJN’s OPRA request.
Rogers did reply to CJN’s request via voicemail regarding the omittance of said documents.
Marks’ response to the Borough recognizes the challenges presented by seasonal flooding, citing abnormally excessive rainfall and significant coastal flooding. He recognized the strain placed on the Borough’s sanitary sewer system. He also cited efforts in 2019, 2022, and 2023 to rehabilitate the sewer system. Unfortunately, the letter provided little in the way of efforts to curb the existing overflow and pollution outside of detailing an expected Summer 2024 start time for a sanitary sewer rehabilitation program.
With regard to the pump station, Marks assured the NJDEP that the pump stations which received violations were of adequate size and were unable to account for record-setting rainfall.
Per the NJDEP documents sent to CJN, compliance from the Rumson has not been achieved.
Back in January of 2024, the Borough of Red Bank issued a notice to residents regarding potential pollutants in the water. The discharge came to approximately 50,000 gallons. The same notice was sent by Rogers to the residents of Rumson.
It is unclear as to whether Rogers informed the mayor and/or the Borough Council of the April 16th violation notice. Mayor Joseph Hemphill has promised a detailed response to an inquiry from CJN by close of business on Monday, December 9th.
The Rumson Borough Council is scheduled to meet on December 10th at 7:30 PM.
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