Ocean County Sheriff Doesn't Want To Return To Justice Complex After Sewage Spill

TOMS RIVER - Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy doesn't want to return to his office in the county Justice Complex because of health concerns, two weeks after the main sewer pipe burst on the fourth floor, according to app.com.

Mastronardy and his staff moved to the Ocean County 911 Center on Chestnut Street after the Sept. 24 incident, when a jail inmate flushed a jumpsuit down a toilet. Several pipes burst and sent raw sewage spewing over parts of the complex, including his office and some courtrooms.

Some sections of the justice complex are still uninhabitable.

After the move to Chestnut Street, some of Mastronardy's staff said they were concerned about health issues at the justice complex.

"This is a health issue and I am not putting the staff back into those conditions again," Mastronardy said.

But Ocean County Administrator Carl W. Block said the county's 911 center doesn't have enough space to accommodate the sheriff's staff. County officials would have to renovate or expand the Chestnut Street facility.

The Board of Freeholders introduced a $2 million ordinance on Wednesday for the installation of new low-flow toilets that would only be able to flush once an hour and would prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

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Photo: Courtesy of Ocean County Sheriff's Department