For Immediate Release:
County breaks ground on truck wash
Shared service facility will help towns
comply with DEP storm water rules
TINTON FALLS, NJ – The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders put shovels in the ground today to start construction on a fully automated truck wash facility that will help the county, municipalities and businesses comply with new wastewater guidelines.
As of February 2009, state law forbids the discharge of pollutants from vehicle and equipment washing into the municipal storm water system or groundwater. Having the first automated truck wash at the Reclamation Center provides a central location in the county.
“Monmouth County has been at the forefront of municipal assistance and shared services programs, and that area now includes truck wash facilities,” Freeholder Deputy Director Robert D. Clifton said. “By offering this shared service, towns will be able to comply with new state storm water regulations – at a nominal fee per wash – without having to build a facility themselves.”
The truck wash facilities are the latest in a long list of shared services the county provides to help municipalities save taxpayers’ dollars. Other shared services include 911 dispatching for police and fire, offering schools and municipalities the use of county bid specifications without having to go out to bid themselves, and allowing towns to use county equipment and maintenance services.
“This facility will help efforts to properly clean not only county and municipal trucks, but those owned by private haulers as well,” Freeholder John P. Curley said. “This is the perfect example of how shared services can benefit both parties. Towns and private haulers will save money by not building their own facilities, and the county will add another revenue source at the Reclamation Center.”
This is the second truck wash facility and will cost just under $3.5 million. It will be fully automated and will operate much like a drive-through car wash. While the majority of the funding will come from the county budget, a small portion of the design and inspection will be funded through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant. The project is eligible for this grant because it will beneficially reuse some water from the facility for the daily dust cover mix used at the landfill.
The first truck wash is located at Highway District 3 and 9, also in Tinton Falls. It is a manual truck wash, which means it must be scrubbed manually with a power washer.
A third truck wash will be built at the Public Works yard at 250 Center St., Freehold. This facility will be constructed with help from a $500,000 in federal grant, will be fully automated and also equipped for manual washes. A site for the fourth truck wash facility has not yet been selected.
The truck wash facilities will contain and recycle all wash waters and discharge them to the sanitary sewer system for treatment. The project will allow the maintenance of this fleet to be in compliance with state law and protect the quality of groundwater and surface waters throughout Monmouth County.
“This is an important piece of the county’s shared services picture,” Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry said. “As governments everywhere struggle to maintain services in this economy, we are able to provide a valuable service that ultimately will save taxpayer dollars through another shared service.”
“Investing in this important project will improve water quality in Monmouth County,” Freeholder John D’Amico said. “This funding will stop dangerous pollutants from being discharged into our water and provide a higher standard for public health.”
“This is an investment in public health and in our environment,” Freeholder Amy A. Mallet said. “By ensuring that storm water and wastewater in Monmouth County is properly treated, we can help keep our families, wildlife and environment healthy for generations to come.”
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