Concerns runoff from Monmouth Park racetrack

By Carol Gorga Williams • COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU • May 8, 2009

OCEANPORT — Residents will have an opportunity to weigh in on the details of a multimillion-dollar plan to reduce the flow of polluted water from Monmouth Park into Branchport Creek. 

Officials have linked much of the pollution in the creek, which runs between Oceanport and Long Branch into the Shrewsbury River, to runoff from the racetrack.

Since 2006, health officials have posted signs along the creek warning people to avoid contact with the water because of high levels of fecal bacteria, a indication of animal waste.

In April, the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority in Monmouth Beach began accepting up to 500,000 gallons of waste water and storm water a day — an increase of 200,000 gallons — from the Oceanport racetrack, according to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

The sports authority will pay $350,000 to the Two Rivers authority immediately, $200,000 annually for nine years beginning Jan. 1, and $100,000 annually for 10 additional years to provide and maintain Two Rivers facilities to accommodate the increased flow, according to a sports authority statement. That is $3.1 million over two decades.

John Samerjan, sports authority vice president, said the Two Rivers agreement was "a big step forward." He also said gutter have been installed on the barns, so that rainfall is captured without allowing it to come into contact with animal waste on the ground.

But Robin Kampf of Long Branch, co-founder of the Rivergate Keepers group of Long Branch and Oceanport residents, remains skeptical and also has expressed some frustration with municipal officials "who should stop patting themselves on their backs in press releases and show some real action."

While she urged residents to attend the public hearing, Kampf said this is the fourth year that signs have warned people of contact with the water in Branchport Creek. She called the numerous public hearings "a shell game" that keeps officials from a final resolution of the problem.

Oceanport Councilman Joseph Irace said that cleanup remains a top priority of the borough's administration.

"We look forward to working together with our residents, Monmouth Park and the sports and exposition authority to make sure that Branchport Creek is not polluted," said Irace. He said local officials have worked with state lawmakers to move cleanup forward.

"We look forward to a continued successful relationship with Monmouth Park and a pollution free creek in our backyards," Irace said.

Environmental activists first learned in 2006 about the extreme levels of fecal bacteria in Branchport Creek tied to the track, which can house about 1,600 horses in stables. The state Department of Environmental Protection later hit the sports authority with two fines totaling $175,000.

Plans to reconstruct the infield track lagoon and build a basin and pumping station still are being discussed with the DEP. Those projects would take several years, Samerjan has said.