P.O. Box 426
401 East State Street, Floor 3
Trenton, NJ 08625-0426
Chief: Robert Oberthaler
I have been in recent contact with Nasir Butt at NJDEP Bureau of Safe Drinking Water concerning the quality of public drinking in Winslow Township, Camden County, NJ.
One of the questions I posed to the Bureau of Safe Drinking Water was about land development and its restrictions with relation to contamination and strain on the existing aquifers. Apparently, NJDEP has restrictions on the area (critical Area 2). I was referred to your office for edification.
I have become painfully aware of the delicate nature of land development, use of fertilizers and lime and the detrimental affect on the quality of drinking water. Because of an article written in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the subject of radium levels in public wells, I have been researching various aspects of the problem.
Winslow Township has seen tremendous growth in its western section, which is not within the pinelands, and it continues to grow.
My concerns are as follows:
1) To what extent is the township required to restrict its development and leave areas in its natural state.
2) How does the State monitor the development and prevent the corresponding strain on the aquifers caused by overdeveloped land?
Sincerely,
DC
WATER SUPPLY ELEMENT
P 0 BOX 426Robert C Shinn, Jr
CommissionerNovember 5, 1998
Dear DC:
You expressed concerns about several environmental issues in your recent letter. I will try to respond to them to your satisfaction.
Critical Area No.2 was delineated because the groundwater levels in the Potomac Raritan Magothy (PRM) aquifer have been declining due to the great amount of development in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties. Water Allocation Permittees were instructed to cut back their use of the aquifer and find alternative sources of drinking water. The other sources include surface supplies, especially the large regional system built by New Jersey-American Water Company to treat and deliver water from the Delaware River, and using different, usually shallower, aquifers. Winslow Township has wells in the Mount Laurel-Wenonah, Cohansey and Piney Point aquifers. The Critical Area regulations do not apply to the existing Winslow Township wells. Because of the restrictions, no new PRM wells may be drilled in the area.
Groundwater levels in Critical Area No.1, mostly in Ocean and Monmouth Counties, are showing signs of improvement. The cutbacks in diversion have been in effect there longer than in your area of the state.
You listed two particular concerns:
1. Townships are not required by state law to restrict development and leave areas in a natural state except where otherwise provided by State statutes (e.g., wetlands) and regulations. It is part of the democratic process to determine such issues on a local level. Growth and development have usually been considered good things. Municipal and county governments control development through zoning and by developing a master plan for the area. Local governments, counties and the State then participate in a cross acceptance process to ensure consistency. The attached newspaper articles give you an idea of what is going on in some areas to increase public awareness and participation in acquiring and preserving open space.
2. The state cannot directly monitor development and prevent the corresponding strain on the aquifers caused by overdeveloped land. However, the Department, in conjunction with the United States Geological Survey and the New Jersey Geological Survey, supports monitoring and analysis of surface and ground water levels throughout much of the State. The Water Resource Management Section of the Bureau of Water Allocation requires every applicant who applies for a new or increased diversion of greater than 100,000 gallons of water per day to submit technical proof, through actual field testing, that the proposed diversion is in the public interest, will not have an adverse effect on an existing water diversion, will not have a harmful effect on the aquifer and will not contribute to the spread of groundwater contamination.
I hope this information is helpful to you and that it encourages you to become more involved with issues involving planning and water resource management which obviously mean a lot to you.
Yours truly,
Robert Oberthaler
Bureau Chief
Bureau of Water Allocation
