Project Description

The western area of Rockland County, along the Ramapo River, contains three municipalities (the Villages of Sloatsburg, Hillburn, and Suffern) and undeveloped land areas along Route 17 (the majority of which are owned by the Ramapo Land Company), referred to as the unincorporated area of the Town of Ramapo. The Villages of Sloatsburg and Hillburn rely primarily on the disposal of sanitary wastes through a conventional subsurface septic system. Most of these systems are located above a sole-source aquifer called the Ramapo River Valley aquifer and/or are in a recharge area to the Ramapo.

Because of failing subsurface disposal systems and increased development pressures due to the completion of the Route 287 Suffern interchange, the Villages of Sloatsburg and Hillburn and the unincorporated part of the Town of Ramapo petitioned the Rockland County Legislature to extend the Rockland County Sewer District No. 1 sewers to this area. Rockland County Sewer District No. 1 operates a 26 million gallons per day wastewater treatment plant, which is sufficient capacity to handle the additional wastewater flows from these unsewered areas. A conceptual engineering and environmental report prepared in June 1997 identified this as a feasible alternative for these unsewered areas. However, based on a draft environmental impact statement, this alternative was later determined too difficult to implement because it would result in out-of-basin transfer of water from the Ramapo River Valley aquifer, and because it had the potential for diminishing flows in the Ramapo River.

Rockland County Sewer District No. 1 has procured Stearns & Wheler, LLC to perform a siting study and conceptual design for a new wastewater treatment plant to serve Western Ramapo. Rockland County Sewer District No. 1 has determined that this siting study will maintain three goals, as follows:

Protection of public health
Protection of environmental and natural resources
Protection of a sole-source aquifer