Our Public Sewer Collection System
Like our public water system,
parts of our public sewer collection system are very old and in need of
attention sooner than later. Our sewer system is made up of a series of
underground pipes, manholes and pumping stations; with some components in the
Courthouse area dating back to the 1950’s.
Many of the Courthouse area
sewer components and components in other areas of our sewer system are not
sealed to prevent rain and ground water from entering the system and to prevent
sewer water from escaping into the environment. In fact there is at least one
building in the Courthouse area that has its storm drain pipes connected to our
public sewer system. When rain and groundwater enter our sewer system it
greatly increases the amount of sewer water that must be treated before it can be
released back into the environment. Rain and ground water infiltration also increases
the workload on our pumping stations, causing some stations to be flooded and
overwhelmed during heavy rain and flood events. Because sewer pumping stations
are typically built on low land, overwhelmed and flooded sewer systems have the
potential to cause negative environmental impacts to our creeks, rivers,
streams, etc. All of these negative impacts equate to a lot of tax and utility
customer dollars being flushed down the drain.
Environmentally sound, operationally
capable and dependable pumping stations are necessary components of our sewer
system. Some of our older pumping stations pose significant operational and
environmental risks. At least two of our pumping stations need to be completely
replaced due to their age, size and the way they were built. We also have
several pumping stations that need to be upgraded because they are so old that
it is impossible to obtain repair and replacement parts. These stations typically
contain two pumps, but some of our stations only have one operational pump. Not
having an operational backup pump significantly decreases dependability and
greatly increases environmental and other risks. It will cost a substantial
amount of money to upgrade the pumping stations that need it, but it will cost
far less than complete replacement of the stations. The needs of our pumping
stations are all part of normal public sewer system operations and maintenance
and should have been financially planned for years ago.
Employee safety in and around
sewer pump stations, manholes and other such high risk areas should always be a
high priority to those we hire and elect. Sadly and alarmingly that is not what
I found to be the case in Gloucester County
Sewer pumping stations pose
numerous health and safety risks to those who operate and maintain them. Sewer
gases can form in pumping station tanks that will incapacitate a person within
three seconds. Imagine climbing down a ladder into a tank 15 feet deep with liquid
several feet deep below you. Imagine becoming incapacitated after you take one
or two breaths. You will fall in and die if you are not already connected to a
retrieval system and someone uses it to remove you from the tank immediately.
It has happened, many, many times all over the world. In fact, in September
1996 four construction workers died on the Navel Weapons Station pier in Yorktown . One man entered a pumping station tank and became incapacitated. Another
man entered to help the first man and he too was knocked out by sewer gas.
Another man went in to help, he too fell out. A fourth man climbed in and he
went down too. A fifth man called for help when he discovered what happened,
but it was too late. All four men were dead within minutes because mandated
employee safety procedures were not followed. What is even worse is they had an
air quality tester and a retrieval system right there with them, but chose not
to utilize them.
The Occupational Safety and
Health Administration or OSHA has established mandatory employee safety
procedures for entering confined spaces like sewer manholes and pumping station
tanks. Failure to follow OSHA mandated permit required confined space entry
procedures can result in injury and death of employees; and fines, jail time
and lawsuits for supervisors, executives, businesses, counties, cities, etc.
Utilities has a portable tripod and wench retrieval system that can be connected
to a single person when they enter some types of confined spaces. This system
does not work at some of our pumping stations because of they way the stations
were built and how much room the tripod requires. I suggested constructing a
fixed retrieval system at these pump stations, but do not know if anything has
been done as of yet to protect our employees and comply with law. Utilities
also has air quality testers, but it appears they started using them only year
or so ago. For years our elected representatives, hired government
administrators and leaders of our utilities department have been allowing our
labor level employees to enter potential death traps, on almost a daily bases, without
testing air quality, utilizing adequate retrieval systems or following other
workplace safety laws.
Over the years a heck of a
lot of what I have shared in this and other articles about my experiences on
the PUAC has been made known to our elected representatives and hired
administrators. Over the years they have all continued to kick the can down the
road. Well, the can has become thin and the road short. Before our current
elected representatives throw more money away on pipe dreams of industrializing
our County in support of turning it into a retirement community, they need to
rectify our infrastructure deficiencies and set in place ordinances that will
provide the necessary mandates to prevent further neglect, fraud, waste and
abuse of our public water and sewer systems.
Keep following and please
share with everyone you know in Gloucester County
Comments about my articles
and submissions for publication on GVLN may be emailed to: Kennysr61@gmail.com
Let your voice be heard on
any topic pertaining to our community.
We will publish many opinions
the newspapers will not.
Kenny Hogge, Sr.
Kennysr61@gmail.com
