No apparent end in sight for area flooding woes
BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer

WOODBRIDGE - When Vesper Avenue resident Evelyn York heard Rep. Michael Ferguson, R-7th District, was coming to knock on doors in her flood-prone neighborhood last week, she was angry.

"He's just coming out here to get a vote," said York, who has lived on Vesper Avenue since 1976. "What has he done since January? It's three weeks before an election, and now he wants to knock on doors."

York referred to the Jan. 9 meeting where Ferguson, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, state Sen. Joseph Vitale, township officials and state Department of Environmental Protection representatives met with residents to discuss flooding problems.

York said Ward 1 Councilman Charles Kenny sent a letter to Ferguson asking for an update on the flood problems two months ago.

"He told me that he didn't get a response from the congressman," she said.

Ferguson, who is running for re-election against Democratic state Assemblywoman Linda Stender [D-22], appeared with Woodbridge Republican Mayoral candidate Christopher Struben, outside York's home on Oct. 14.

"A lot has been done," said Ferguson to York. "I have been in touch with the U.S. Army Corps. They have said the flooding might be caused by a poorly maintained retention basin in or near Woodbridge Center."

The Corps, which is the only federal entity that Ferguson has jurisdiction over, and the Department of Environmental Protection began studying the township's flooding problems in May 1998.

The study of the 10-square-mile flood-prone area revealed that it would cost more to fund flood remediation projects than it would pay for the estimated damage from flooding over the next 50 years.

The Corps has said it would cost the state and federal government $3.3 billion to implement structural flood control solutions in the four flood-prone areas of the township: Edgerton Boulevard, Rahway Avenue Mobile Home Park, Port Reading Avenue, and Crampton and Watson avenues.

"I understand that it would cost the federal government more money than to pay for the flood damages, but something needs to be done," said York. "I would say 95 percent of the time, it floods even when it doesn't rain."

York, who lives on a side street off Crampton Avenue, showed Ferguson and Struben the many photographs of the floods she had taken since the big nor'easter in 1992.

"This is horrible," said Ferguson as he looked through the photographs. "We will keep pushing and pressing them [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] and state officials."

York disagreed with Ferguson about the cause of the flooding.

"I think it's the overdevelopment and the expansion of the New Jersey Turnpike [in 1992] that has caused the flooding to get worse," she said. "Now with this wetland restoration project, they are piling dirt on top of more dirt on the side opposite from the properties. It is getting higher and higher everyday. Water can't jump a hill, so what does it do, the water comes towards the properties and floods them."

Township Business Administrator Robert Landolfi has said that the wetland restoration project should bring some flooding relief, since the wetlands would be returned to their native state.

The Woodbridge Creek restoration project is a component of a separate project to deepen shipping lanes in the New York and New Jersey harbor. The area has been selected for restoration in order to compensate for potential damage to wetlands near the area by the Goethals Bridge.

York said she is luckier than most of her neighbors.

"I don't have a basement and my property slopes upward," she said.

Magdy Youssef, who lives across the street from York and has a basement, said the street floods two to three times a week.

"I can't even use my basement," said Youssef, who has lived in the house with his wife and three small children for a little more than three years. "Now on top of paying $850 of flood insurance for only the structure of the house, I'm spending $2,500 to $3,000 to implement a French drain to hopefully alleviate the flooding."

Youssef said he had no choice, but to implement the French drain.

"We had to do something," he said. "We can't use our yard. I have to really watch where my children go, who are only eight, two, and five-months-old. I think the water, which also smells, has contaminated my yard because I had to cut down four trees that were dying."

The township implemented reverse 911 system in January for residents who live in the flood-prone areas.

"It's an automated message that the township uses and it goes out to all the residents at the same time," said York. "It gives us time to move our cars to higher ground. I move my car four blocks away from where I live or else I will lose it. My son has lost two of his trucks since 1992."

But Youssef did not get the reverse 911 call.

"Magdy actually called me up and warned me that I better move my car," said York. "I think some of the neighbors don't get the 911 calls."

Many suggestions have been discussed over the years, but have not been feasible.

One suggestion made by York last year was to give the residents who live on flood plains a fair market value for some of their property or to buy the houses.

Donna Jago, the mayor's chief of staff, had said the suggestion was considered in the past, but discarded as an option.

York said there are no catch basins on Vesper Avenue. Township Council President Patricia Osborne has said that professional experts have told her that catch basins cannot be built in the area because of the sea level.

Dredging the local river area was another suggestion that was dismissed because the flooding is caused by tidal water, Township Engineer Scott Thompson has said.

The township hired Najarian Associates, a civil engineering and environmental consulting firm, last year to assess the Corps' report.

Najarian's report found that out of the six Corps' alternatives, the suggestion to build a tide gate on township property, along with a 924-foot levee was the most cost-efficient.

Nijarian said that they felt it was possible to downsize the amount of levees that are required.

Business Administrator Robert Landolfi has said that the corps recommendation to provide federal funding for the project would be more likely if the benefit-to-cost ratio was increased to one, but it is not guaranteed.

The Corps reports a maximum benefit-to-cost ratio of 0.8. The proposed levee system comprises approximately 23 percent of the estimated total construction costs, so a large reduction in levee size would increase the benefit-to-cost ratio, according Najarian's report.

But the residents who live in flood-prone areas will still have to wait.

"It flooded on Vesper Avenue and the surrounding streets twice last week," said York. "I'm waiting for Robert Landolfi to get me the statement to find out if the soil in the wetlands is contaminated or not. Our town council has done great, but their words have fallen on deaf ears."

Councilman Charles Kenny said the township is still waiting for the Army Corps final report.

"We have a draft report," said Kenny. "And Nijarian is still working to see if they could work out the numbers to reach a benefit-to-cost ratio to one."