Passing the crest

Riegelsville gauge indicates the river is beginning to level off at 32.90' (it's probably a few inches higher by now). That would be little over a foot shy of the April '05 flood which was #3 all-time.

New Hope, as seen from the Lambertville shore is a disaster. The Bucks County Playhouse sits forelornly on the flooded waterfront.

Delaware Riverkeeper Network sent this too me a few minutes ago.

Delran Wastewater Plant Dumping Sewage

Delaware Riverkeeper Network received a report that the Delran Sewage Treatment Plant in Delran Township, NJ is dumping up to two million gallons an hour of partially-treated sewage out of the outfall pipe into either the Delaware River or Rancocas Creek (the location of the outfall is yet to be confirmed). Early reports say this is not an issue related to the recent rains but a malfunction of the plant and a recurring problem for the plant. NJ officials inspected the plant last week and cited problems with one of the UV disinfection stations. The plant is required to have two working UV disinfection stations and one of the stations was filthy and not operating. This is an ongoing problem at the STP and reportedly officials have concerns about inexperienced operators and/or lack of appropriate funding for proper maintenance of the facility.

Angered by the reports Maya van Rossum the Delaware Riverkeeper says “It is inexcusable that this plant has been allowed to operate at such a low level and is now doing harm to our River and threatening our communities. DEP needs to take immediate action to penalize the facility, to ensure it is upgraded and operating cleanly from here on out and that they are required to implement projects to restore health to the Rancocas Creek and Delaware River in order to make up for the harm they have inflicted.”

DRN confirmed with the Burlington County Health Department this morning that a call was put in by NJ DEP to issue a health advisory for the region. It is critical that the public stay away from the contaminated areas downstream as this is a human health issue. It is also crucial that water users of this service area refrain from using water in their home that is of non-critical use to minimize the amount of wastewater flowing into this plant.

DRN has reported the pollution discharge to the appropriate officials.