Is there enough money for Raritan and Millstone flood control? (2024)

Manville Mayor Richard Onderko calls Manville "the forgotten town."

MANVILLE - Mayor Richard Onderko calls Manville "the forgotten town."

In the wake of floods that drowned Central Jersey in the early 1970s, the Green Brook Flood Commission was formed, and though it took more than three decades,an Army Corps of Engineersflood control project was launched and now Bound Brook is protected from the relentless floodwaters that routinely turned Main Street into a canal.

But Manville was forgotten, Onderko said.

"BoundBrook today has a series of levees andfloodwalls to protect its communitywhereas Manville has seen no progress on the mitigation front to help lowerfloodwaters when significant rain events occur," the mayor said.

Maybe the towns in the Green Brook Flood Commission area had more political influence, the mayor said.

READ:Manville flood fix not worth the cost?

Though Manville was devastated by floods on almost regular basis in the last four decades, no flood control.measures were ever put in place.

Fourteen years ago, the state Department of Environmental Protection agreed to share the cost of a study with the Army Corps of Engineers to determine thefeasibility of a flood control project.

READ:Manville flood buyouts get $1.3M FEMA grant​

The Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to discuss the 300-plus pagestudy's findings at a meeting of the Raritan and Millstone Rivers Flood Commission at 7 p.m. March 23 at the Franklin Township Municipal Building,475 Demott Lane.

But Onderko and commission members already know the conclusion.

Flood control does not meet the federal government's cost-benefit standards.

And Manville will remain forgotten.

Confluence

Onderko knows what it'sliketo live with the constant worrythat a nor'easter, tropical storm or even a rogue thunderstorm can change your lifeand wash away a lifetime's savings inanother flood in the town that sits at the confluence of the Raritan and Millstone rivers.

"Manville becomes an island when it floods," said the mayor, who took office in January

The tension that was created whenever there wasa forecast of heavy rain caused discord in his family, Onderko said. His parents almost veered toward divorce.

He remembers one weekend when his parents were away for the weekend and he became stranded by floodwaters in thehouse onNorth Second Avenue by Christ the King Church.

READ:Senate bill creates Central Jersey flood task force​

Onderko knows firsthand that residents have to remain resilient to besurvivors, just as Manville has beena survivor of whatever calamity it has endured.\

The borough has survived the deadly legacy of the Johns-Manville plant which manufactured asbestos and raised the chances of being stricken with cancer if you worked there, like many of the residents of the town that was named after the factory.

When the factory closed, Manville's economy faded quickly.

But the townsurvived thanks to a shopping center and the Adesa auto auction built on the site of the Johns-Manville plant.

Manville also hada Superfund site in the heart of its downtown on Main Street where underground contamination from a creosote plant forcedthe demolition of a shopping center, bowling alley, movie theater and homes.

But the cleanup of the site has been completed and the borough is working on a redevelopment plan for the site

Manville survived that.

But now Manville may be facing its toughest fight yet.

Since Tropical Storm Doria in 1971, Manville has experienced more and more frequent floods as both the Raritan and Millstone rivers regularlyoverflowed their banks.

According to federal numbers, Manville suffered $20.38 million in flood damage from 1977 through 1999. That does not include the damage from Irene in 2011 and other floods in the first decade of the new century.

READ:Blue Acres buyouts are balancing act for towns

The increased flooding is not because of global warming, but development in the basins of both rivers, from Princeton to Flemington, Hillsborough to Bridgewater, has increased the volume of stormwater that can no longer seep into the ground, but cascades into the rivers.

"Manville paid the ultimate price for overdevelopment inthe upstream watershed with poor stormwater management regulations and adrastic increase in the amount of impervious surface from urban sprawlmakingfloodwater levels go higher and higher over time," Onderko said.

And all that water ends up in Manville.

Cost benefit

After the catastrophic floodingfromFloyd in 1999, the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to study the possibility of flood control to protect Manville, particularly the Lost Valley section along the Millstone River that isseparated from the rest of the borough by the CSX railroad tracks.

Those homes in Lost Valleywere built in the 1940s and 1950s in an areaof town that rarelyflooded. That's where many Johns-Manville workers settled. Theywere able to afford the modest homes though federalloans after their service in World War II.

Residents and officials were optimistic that a plan could be created to protect Manville, just as the Army Corps of Engineersdeveloped and built a project that now shields Bound Brook.

But now the Army Corps of Engineers has bad news for Manville.

READ:Christie comes to Manville to mark Blue Acres success

"Unfortunately, economic analysis has demonstrated that all formulated alternative plans have benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) less than unity (1.0) and thus no alternative plan has been identified that favorably contributes to National Economic Development (NED)," said Robert Greco, the project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers. "Therefore this report recommends that no federal flood risk management alternative plan be further developed and implemented."

In simpler words, any flood control project, from building levees or dredging the rivers, does not meet the federal funding cost-benefit standard of saving $1 in damage for every dollar spent on flood control.

For example, the cost of building a levee system is $66.38 million, according to the report. That proposal called for the construction of about two miles of levees along the Raritan River, Millstone River and Royce Brook and more than a mile of floodwalls. Some of the levees would be 14 feet high.About 810 feet of North Main Street would be raised three to five feet.

That planwould protect not only Manville, but also the Zarephathsection of Franklin.

But according to federal calculations, that has a benefit cost ratio of .39 when are ratio of 1 is needed.

A second proposal was the dredging of the Raritan River to deepen the channel to improve the flow of rate. About two miles of the river would be dredged from the CSX railroad bridge past the Route 287 bridge. About 795,000 cubic feet would be excavated from the bottom of the river.

Cost of that plan is estimated at $125.58 million with a benefit cost ratio of .2, even less than the levee alternative.

READ:State buys first flood-prone home in Manville​

That leaves alternatives that do do involve major construction, like the state's Blue Acres program has already resulted in the demolition of more than 100 homes in Manville.

"It is simplycheaper to buy residents out," the mayor said.

But that forceslongtime residents to find another place to live. And that puts a considerable dent on the borough's property tax base.

But there could be no other choice.

"It's sad to see large sections of my hometown being knocked down butknowing that residents are now being moved out of harm's way makes iteasier to accept, since living with the threat of repeatedflooding issimply too stressful and costly," the mayor said.

But 500 more homes are still in harm's way, Onderko said.

"Some of the residents who recently took buyouts decided to stay in town and that says somethingabout the future of Manville and the close-knit community we still are inface of all the adversity we have dealt with over time," he said.

His own childhood home has been demolished, the mayor said, "but the memories of growing upin Manville will never fade."

The coming storm

Frank Jurewiczis not giving up the fight.

Jurewicz, a Manville resident, is chairman of the Raritan and MillstoneRivers Flood Commision which has representatives from Manville, Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Franklin, Montgomery, Raritan Borough, Rocky Hill,Somerville and South Bound Brook.

The commission was created to prod the state and federal governments to find a solution to the flooding in Manville and, in particular, other towns along the two rivers.

The Army Corps of Engineers' conclusions are, to say the least, disappointing for the commission.

"This is a major blow to us," Jurewicz said.

He emphasized that floodingis not just a Manville problem, but something that affects towns throughout the rivers' basin.

"We are trying to help these people," he said.

Some measures are starting, like raising some buildings along the Millstone River in Millstone. But there's more that has to be done.

READ:Floods in Raritan River basin are ‘difficult to forecast’​

That's why Jurewicz is asking residents and officials from all of the towns to attend Wednesday's meeting to let the Army Corps of Engineers know that its conclusion is disappointing.

Jurewicz wants people to ask the Army Corps of Engineers questions so they will get answers why flood control measures can not be implemented.

Maybe the outpouring of public concern will convince the Army Corps of Engineer to recheck its calculations and factors to see if any alternative meets the federal cost benefit standard, he said

"We're trying to get as much out of it as we can," he said.

But Onderko knows there is no "silver bullet."

"There is no simple solution," he said. "It has to be a combination of things."

"I remain optimistic that Manville willreceive more federal and state aid to deal with the adverse effects causedbyflooding," Onderko said. "My job as mayor is to make the case for that aid and I amcommitted to do so in the months ahead."

"To do nothing is very, very concerning to me," he said.

And Jurewicz said the commission will remain committed to the cause.