Sewage Flows In To River

Thousands of gallons of sewage flowed into the Raritan River after a major sewer main ruptured Sunday morning.

The 102-inch main burst just before 10 a.m. More than four hours later, sewage continued to flow through a marsh and into the river.

"It was shooting up out of the ground 10 feet into the air," said Chris Bardsley, a nearby resident and chief of Sayreville's auxiliary police. "At first I thought the river had given way or something. It was just a big rush of water."

Officials did not immediately know the cause. Bardsley, who reported the break, said it followed a clap of thunder and a brief power outage.

The broken main is next to a residential neighborhood. About 25 homes had sewage in their backyards; otherwise, no property damage was reported.

A temporary dike was built between the houses and the break to keep the wastewater, already strained for solid material, away from homes.

Capt. William Gawron, emergency management coordinator, said health and hazardous materials workers were at the scene and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had been notified.

The main was shut down and a smaller backup line was put into service.

"The line's been turned off, but it's still flowing because of the pressure in the line," Gawron said. "It's going to take some time for it to quit flowing."

He said the line that ruptured leads to a pumping station for Middlesex County's primary sewage plant.

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Author: NBC10/AP