Forty-five municipalities in eastern Bergen County send their wastewater—what goes down drains from sinks, toilets, washing machines and bathtubs—to the Bergen County Utilities Authority (BCUA), a regional sewage treatment facility located in Little Ferry. That plant is strategically located on the Hackensack River, into which an average of 85 million gallons of treated wastewater is discharged per day.

The BCUA has a state-issued permit to discharge wastewater and is run by a professional staff. However, the plant also has a history of serious permit violations, including a discharge into the Hackensack River of partially treated sewage sludge in August 2002. (See Hackensack Tidelines, Fall 2002.)

To be fair, the BCUA facility has improved the environment of the Hackensack River and the quality of life for watershed residents. The improvements began when the Little Ferry plant came online and poorly run municipal sewage treatment plants were forced to close. The BCUA allowed Bergen County to move from rudimentary primary sewage treatment (that simply separated solids from wastewater) to the much-cleaner secondary treatment (that disinfects the water before discharge).

The fact remains, however, that the BCUA plant is an example of mid-twentieth century technology that is rapidly approaching the end of its usefulness. More importantly, the plant shouldn’t be expected to assume a new major burden—the wastewater from the 4.5-million square-foot Xanadu sports and entertainment center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

While the BCUA says that the Little Ferry plant has the capacity to handle the increased flow from Xanadu, there are several reasons why it is unacceptable. First and foremost is the issue of ecological sustainability.  Numerous government agencies and countless academic studies (including many that were presented at last year’s Meadowlands Symposium) have shown that the Hackensack River is a resource in recovery.  The river continues to show increased biodiversity and water quality with each passing year.  If the discharge of secondary-treated wastewater into the River is substantially increased, we risk slowing the steady improvement in water quality that the lower Hackensack has enjoyed since the 1970s.

Another potential impact is the economic burden on Bergen County taxpayers if the BCUA is forced to upgrade its capacity because of Xanadu.  Many of the surrounding communities are currently redeveloping or have plans to do so under New Jersey’s Smart Growth initiative. That growth won’t be very smart if the BCUA can’t adequately treat the wastewater that growth generates.  We are concerned about the utility ability to accommodate both the needs of Xanadu and the future needs of the Bergen County communities within its service area.

Rather than use the BCUA, the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) – the site of Xanadu – would be better off, as would the river, by upgrading the Sports Complex’s existing secondary treatment plant to the tertiary level. By establishing a state-of-the-art treatment plant capable of dealing with the sewage generated from Xanadu as well as from existing facilities, the burden currently placed on the Little Ferry plant would be relieved. That way, smart growth in Bergen County would become a reality.

Another benefit of on-site treatment would be the opportunity for the NJSEA and Xanadu to reuse the treated wastewater for irrigation and other uses that do not require potable water (e.g. heating, cooling, recirculating fountains, inside and outside landscaping, and snowmaking in the proposed snow dome). Any surplus could easily be conveyed to EnCap’s proposed golf courses for watering the fairways and greens. (See EnCap story on Page 1.)  The reuse of treated wastewater has the additional benefit of lessening the demand that both Xanadu and EnCap will place upon our watershed’s finite and fragile water supply.

By its own charter, the NJSEA is required to protect the environmental quality of the natural resources of the Meadowlands – resources that belong to all of us. By the same token, Xanadu’s developers, The Mills Corp. and Mack-Cali, have pledged to be good stewards of the commonly held trust resources of the Meadowlands as well as the builders of a world-class entertainment destination. They need to be given the opportunity to do both. 

We also have to make sure that we don’t attempt to move our region into the 21st century by relying upon the technology and practices of the 20th. Only the best available technology and best management practices will do. We owe this to future generations of New Jerseyans and we owe it to the river.