Ventnor City Sewage Spill Could Take A Week To Clean Up

VENTNOR CITY, NJ — The raw sewage leak in Ventnor City drew criticism from the New Jersey Sierra Club after officials announced that it could take as many as seven days to clean up.

The leak was reported on Sunday near Wellington and Dorset Avenues. Officials have told people to stay away from the water flooding the streets.

Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, expressed concerns about how the sewage leak could impact public health.

“Raw sewage spewing into the streets around Ventnor near Atlantic City is a huge health risk. It is flooding the streets just a few blocks away from the Bay. This is because of the DEP’s failure to invest and upgrade aging infrastructure and to protect our coasts from pollution,” said Tittel.

He added that the aging infrastructure in Atlantic County plus storm surges and sea-level rise compound these problems. In periods of heavy rain, wastewater overflow mixes with stormwater, contaminating nearby waterways and soil, according to Tittel.

“This leak is happening when it is too cold to swim, so less people will be exposed to the contamination that leaks into the water. However, this just shows the state’s failure to deal with stormwater runoff and failing sewer systems,” Tittel said.

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