Pigeon Swamp flooding study not yet complete
Residents eagerly await update on project, which was begun over a year ago
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Township officials and residents expect to be updated later this month on the status of a flood study on Pigeon Swamp State Park.

The study, started more than a year ago, seeks to determine the cause of excessive flooding in Pigeon Swamp State Park, located in the northeastern part of town. Area residents and, more recently, the state Department of Environmental Protection, have laid the blame primarily on excessive warehouse development, noting that some nearby warehouses empty their stormwater into the swamp by piggybacking onto the nearby New Jersey Turnpike's drainage system. Mayor Frank Gambatese, however, contends that the turnpike itself is probably the cause, saying that its expansion reduced ground permeability, leading runoff to head into the swamp. The study seeks to settle the dispute once and for all.

Development firm Trammel Crowe agreed to fund it and promised to change the site plan of its 1.8 million-square-foot warehouse complex should the analysis determine such action is needed to mitigate flooding in the area. In exchange, the Planning Board reversed a previous decision to reject the aforementioned warehouse complex. When the decision was made, it was emphasized that the money came with no strings attached and that Trammel Crowe would have no input over how the analysis is conducted.

According to Township Health Administrator Steven Papenberg, engineering firm PMK will bring Township Manager Matthew Watkins up to speed sometime next week. After that, another meeting with the Davidsons Mill Road Area Committee, composed of people who live near Pigeon Swamp, will take place around the end of August. Papenberg said that the firm recently completed an as-built survey of the area and are now in the process of looking at the soils and vegetation to quantify and measure the stormwater impact pre- and post-expansion of the turnpike.

An update on the study could not come soon enough for resident Jean Dvorak, who is on the Davidsons Mill Road Area Committee and is a member of the Eastern Village Association (EVA), which seeks to bring attention to the negative effects of industrial development in South Brunswick. Her house is right next to Pigeon Swamp and she said that the flooding, which takes place in the traditionally dry upland areas, is still a huge problem.

"I was back there again the other day and the water is just as bad as it's ever been. … The water just gushes out there," Dvorak said.

Dvorak said that an initial progress report had been promised in July and that she has been getting frustrated by the delays. Papenberg said that he felt the firm just wanted to be as thorough as possible, noting that PMK engineers had been in and out of the municipal building looking for records on numerous occasions.

"That's probably the reason [for the delay] than anything else," Papenberg said.

Dvorak said she is eagerly anticipating what PMK will tell her.