Elwood Sewer Plant Study

Mullica Township has approached the Pinelands Commission to request funding for a study of whether a small sewer plant may be built in its Elwood Village area to service the Wharton Park neighborhood and a commercial area on the White Horse Pike.

Some old septic systems in Wharton Park have failed and are proving costly to replace for the lower-income homeowners, township officials have said.

Mayor Jim Brown stressed the township is only seeking a feasibility study to see where such a plant might be sited.

Atlantic County Deputy Director of Planning and Development, John E. Peterson stated that the only way (sewers can be built) is if a municipality asks, makes applications, works with the DEP and the Pinelands Commission.  He said he is often asked, "When are you putting in the sewers?"
"I say, 'If there's going to be a project here, you are going to have to ask for it.  We have been designated the wastewater management planning entity, that's all."  And someone would have to be willing to pay the millions of dollars it would cost to build and install such a system.

PPA Executive Director Carleton Montgomery suggested municipalities should look at Community septic systems which don't incur the costs and operating expenses of a treatment plant.

Fights over sewers have been most intense in Buena Vista Township, where disagreements over the potential for building a sewer plant, mainly to serve commercial areas, drove a wedge through the governing body.  The Township returned funding for a feasibility study on building a sewer plant to the Pinelands Commission in 2012 after residents came out to meetings in droves, vocally opposing bringing sewers to town.

Read the entire interesting article at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/pineland-village-sewers-face-opposition-from-environmentalists/article_d9b15d68-6c44-11e3-b73f-001a4bcf887a.html

12/26/13 - Woodbine is seeking a $30,000 grant from the USDA Rural Development SEARCH Program and a $20,000 grant from the Pinelands Commission for a feasibility study on implementing a borough sewer system.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/woodbine-seeks-usda-grant-to-study-construction-of-sewer-system/article_03167ca0-6ea3-11e3-8141-0019bb2963f4.html