DEP Continues Investigation Along Memorial Drive Line
Hajna: There were no ecological impacts to the Deal Lake wildlife
Work continues this week to find the source of contaminants that made their way into Deal Lake, State Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] spokesman Larry Hajna said.
“We are looking into whether someone illegally dumped 
an oil product somewhere in the system or whether it is something coming out of a stormwater drain or from an underground storage tank,” Hajna said “We don’t know the source at this time [but] there were no ecological impacts to the wildlife.”
The DEP led investigation launched last week after a call was made to the state agency’s anonymous tip line. The Monmouth County Health Department and Department of Public Works also responded.
Hajna said a contractor has been hired to investigate the sewer and stormwater lines and that the containment booms are being monitored and cleared of trapped materials.
“The first priority is to make sure it doesn’t spread, 
then to find the source” Hajna said. “It can be really tricky if a tank is leaking because even if they find the breach in the pipe it’s still unclear how things are moving.”
Hajna said the work crew is a robot camera to locate any breaches in the system along the Memorial Drive drain system.
Deal Lake Commission Chairman Don Brockel said he was pleased at the quick response the state agency made last week. The Commission was formed in 1974 to help preserve and restore the water body and its tributaries to a stable ecosystem.
“They did a great job,” Brockel said. “That’s a large industrial area along Memorial Drive so we get all that runoff from there and from the railroad east. There are multiple pipes leading into that line and anything that goes in the ground is coming that way. Not to mention that Sunset Lake connects to Deal Lake at the northeast corner at Bond.”
To learn more about the DEP and its hotline, click here. For more about the Deal Lake Commission, click here.
[Photos, in part, courtesy of Brockel]
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