Why Berkeley Heights Needs an Engineer on Council for Its Wastewater Plant

Berkeley Heights has committed millions of dollars to its wastewater treatment plant. Residents deserve to know what that investment has accomplished, what still needs fixing and what the remaining work will cost. I believe these decisions make a compelling case for electing an engineer to Township Council.

In 2023, the township authorized an $8 million treatment plant upgrade. Financial records show approximately $6.2 million expended or charged against that project through December 2024. That is a subtotal for one project and period, not the plant’s total spending to date.

An April 2024 New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection inspection letter documented earlier treatment-limit violations and inaccurate discharge monitoring reports. Some reporting errors understated results; others overstated them. Accurate data matters because it tells operators, regulators and residents whether treatment is working.

There is progress to acknowledge. Settlement language in the July 2025 council packet credits the township with correcting inaccurate reporting and cooperating with DEP. In January 2026, the mayor reported zero effluent permit excursions during 2025. That is welcome news. Our plant employees deserve credit for operating the plant and for the progress the township reports. The full monitoring records should accompany that public claim.

Yet the township’s summer 2026 update described the roughly $8 million upgrade as halfway complete, reported installed filters and still carried a July schedule for raw influent pump installation. Accounting charges and construction progress measure different things. Those figures alone do not establish overspending or a missed contractual deadline. They do make an equipment-by-equipment update essential: What has passed testing, what is operating and what is the current completion date?

In a statement published September 11 by NJ21st, Fire Chief James Hopkins described a peracetic acid spill at the plant that brought firefighters and hazardous-materials responders. He credited plant personnel with taking containment measures before firefighters arrived. His account did not identify the spill’s cause or volume. Residents deserve a documented explanation of the cause, corrective actions and verification that those actions worked.

On September 15, the township awarded up to $380,650 for engineering design and bidding services to replace the plant’s electrical switchgear, main transformer and emergency generator system. That pays for design and bidding. The public still needs a current construction and installation estimate, a procurement schedule and an explanation of how reliable power will be maintained during the work.

These are connected oversight responsibilities. Treatment performance, chemical safety, equipment reliability and cost each need their own evidence. A good effluent year is an important achievement; it does not answer every question about the plant’s remaining capital and maintenance needs.

I am a chemical engineer. My training helps me examine how treatment processes work, how chemical dosing and controls affect results, and how to compare engineering alternatives. When a proposal reaches council, I can ask what is causing the problem, whether the proposed equipment addresses that cause and what test will demonstrate success.

The plant’s filters, biological treatment and chemical systems must work together. I would ask which pollutants an upgrade is intended to reduce and how operating data will show that it succeeded under the conditions this plant actually faces. Price matters, including the electricity, chemicals, maintenance and eventual replacement costs over an asset’s life.

Outside engineers and contractors provide necessary expertise. Council must still examine their recommendations, fees, scope changes and results. I would ask for the alternatives considered, the assumptions behind the cost estimate and the evidence supporting the selected approach. Informed scrutiny helps good engineering earn public confidence.

My role on council would be to strengthen that oversight, working with our operators, consulting engineers and financial staff. Licensed professionals would retain responsibility for design and plant operations. An engineering degree does not replace their specialized qualifications.

I would press for a quarterly public treatment plant report showing actual payments, outstanding commitments, the forecast to finish, commissioning results and the status of plant-related DEP findings. It should identify which problems each project will address, what remains and who is responsible for the next step. Continued maintenance must be part of the plan.

For this technical challenge, I believe I am by far the best-prepared candidate running for Township Council. Residents deserve someone who can turn engineering explanations into informed decisions about their money and their treatment plant.

Please vote for Edmund Tom Maciejewski, Chemical Engineer, for Berkeley Heights Township Council.