Much of the Superstorm Sandy clean-up work in New Jersey will be in removing silt from storm drains and culverts in areas hard hit by huge waves that surged at the Atlantic coastline, the same water that crushed boardwalks and damaged buildings and cars. That’s the prediction of Tom Ferrero, a longtime official of the National Association of Wastewater Technicians.
Ferrero’s family’s pumping business is located in Horsham, Pa., about 100 miles west of Atlantic City, N.J., and its fleet of vacuum trucks were scrambled soon after Sandy’s landfall for a variety of cleanup work. At first, the trucks were working around the clock at municipal treatment plants helping pump stations keep up with the heavy flow. He expects many pumpers will keep busy removing silt from drains in the coastal cities.
Another area where the company’s 15 trucks have been busy is pumping septic tanks and small pits leading into sewer lines, helping homeowners avoid sewage backups due to power outages idling sewer pumps. As long as power remains out, the company will be answering onsite system alarm calls and performing periodic pumping of tanks and pits. As more and more homes return to the power grid, that work will drop off.
Ferrero said the majority of the storm damage was near the coast; he only received 2 inches of rain, and noted that in parts of West Virginia blanketed with heavy snowstorms, really only saw the equivalent of 3 inches of rainfall.
“The issues here are power outages, not water,’’ he said. “There was some flooding, but it wasn’t what we expected. Our basement stayed dry.’’
Further south in Chesapeake, Va., pumper Bruce Hines saw his office flooded and had to move all of his vacuum trucks to higher ground to avoid damage. B. Ray Hines Septic Service is located along a tributary of the Elizabeth River and the Intercoastal Waterway, and unusually high tides, along with the storm surge, brought the creek up 3.5 feet and filled the office with 18 inches of water on Sunday.
At low tide, the crew entered the office and removed all the computer equipment and kept the business running by transferring phone lines to mobile phones. “We’re just thankful that it wasn’t any worse than it was,’’ said Hines, whose company is going to be featured in the December issue of Pumper. “We dodged another bullet.’’
After the storm passed, Hines sent two trucks out to municipal treatment plant pump stations about 45 miles inland to help keep up with massive flows. Those trucks ran around the clock for 24 hours or more. Another truck was called out in the Newport News, Va., area.
I’ve called numerous pumping and portable sanitation companies this week and will continue to file updates as they come in. If you want to report on storm aftermath conditions in your area, post your comments here or send me an email at editor@promonthly.com.
