FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2025

Contact: Vincent Grassi (609) 984-1795
Lawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795
Caryn Shinske (609) 984-1795

COMMISSIONER LATOURETTE PRESENTS OUR WATER’S WORTH IT AWARD TO CAMDEN COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITIES AUTHORITY FOR WORK TO ADDRESS COMBINED SEWER DISCHARGES

(25/P18) TRENTON – Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette joined state legislators, local officials and community leaders in Camden today to present the DEP’s fourth Our Water’s Worth It award to the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) for its work to protect public health by reducing combined sewer discharges and localized flooding through sewerage and green infrastructure improvements.

The award, which also recognizes the CCMUA for its public education and engagement efforts, was presented during a ceremony at a fishing pier on the Delaware River near the Camden County Water Resource Recovery Facility. Those who attended include Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Camden County Commissioner Jeff Nash, and Camden Mayor Carstarphen.

The award is part of the Department of Environmental Protection’s Our Water’s Worth It campaign, launched last year to highlight the importance of protecting the state’s water supplies. The campaign recognizes individuals and organizations for work they are undertaking to safeguard water resources and enhance drinking water quality for New Jersey residents.

“It has been a priority of the Murphy Administration to address the longstanding problem of combined sewer discharges that impact local waterways and can flood neighborhood streets,” Commissioner LaTourette said. “Through the development of long-term plans to reduce combined sewer discharges, DEP and our local partners are working together to better protect public health while also improving the ecological health of our urban waterways. My DEP colleagues and I commend the CCMUA on receiving this award, which acknowledges the authority’s leadership and commitment to working on solutions to combined sewer discharges.”

“The CCMUA has come up with creative and innovate solutions to two major problems that were impacting this neighborhood, and the city at large,” Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez said. “The progress their work has made in Camden is noticeable and this award is well deserved.”

“The CCMUA has worked hard to improve flooding conditions and the quality of the local waterways here in Camden and that work has paid off,” said Commissioner Jeffrey Nash. “Through basic infrastructure improvements and a major investment into new, green flood mitigation, the health of our local waterways and the quality of life for the residents of the Cramer Hill residents have both improved.”

“I commend the Camden County Board of Commissioners and applaud the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority on receiving recognition for their efforts to improve water quality and protect the long-term health of our natural environment,” said Camden Mayor Victor G. Carstarphen.  “The CCMUA continues to invest in CSOs and enhance their treatment system throughout the City of Camden. They consistently look for new ways to implement sustainable measures which are aimed at improving the quality of life within our neighborhoods. I am grateful to DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette for recognizing the CCMUA leadership as a part of DEP’s Our Water’s Worth It campaign.”

“We are honored to receive such a prestigious award from the NJDEP,” CCMUA Executive Director Scott Schreiber said. “The CCMUA is committed to protecting the quality of our local waterways and improving the quality of life of those who depend on these water sources. We work hard to ensure that we deliver on our promises to the community, and it feels incredible to be recognized for our work.”

CCMUA Addresses Combined Sewer Discharges

The CCMUA was created in 1972 to replace numerous aging local sewage treatment plants throughout the county with a regional facility equipped with advanced treatment technologies. Combined with repairs to Camden City and Gloucester City’s sewer systems, this regionalization effort ended the discharge of millions of gallons of partially treated sewage per day into local waterways.

Today, CCMUA provides wastewater treatment for approximately 500,000 residents in Camden County’s 36 municipalities, treating 58 million gallons of sewage per day before discharge to the Delaware River.

Like many urban areas of the state, Camden and Gloucester City, however, still have local combined sewer systems. These systems were built many decades ago to collect rainwater and snowmelt runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same piping system. During periods of heavy rain or snowmelt, these systems can overflow, discharging a mix of stormwater and untreated wastewater through outfalls and even into streets. These events are known as Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs).

Under the Murphy Administration, the DEP has been working with operators of these older systems to develop long-term control plans that reduce combined sewer discharges. (For more information on combined sewer discharges and the steps the DEP is taking to address this problem, visit www.nj.gov/dep/dwq/cso.htm)

Beginning in 2015, CCMUA began working with Camden and Gloucester City and to develop a long-term control plan to reduce or eliminate the combined sewer discharges from outfalls in Camden and Gloucester City. The plan includes the use of green stormwater infrastructure, increased storage capacity, and sewer separation projects. DEP has also worked with the cities to address obstructions in combined sewer outfalls to reduce street and basement flooding of combined sewage during storms.

Through participation with the New Jersey Water Bank, CCMUA has proactively implemented combined sewer controls that have reduced discharges to local waterways and significantly decreased street flooding through treatment capacity improvements at its regional facility.

A recent project supported by the long-term control plan involves the separation of stormwater and wastewater lines to address the largest combined sewer outfall in the system, alleviating flooding in the Cramer Hill section of Camden. This $24 million dollar project will significantly improve water quality in the Delaware River directly upstream of Petty’s Island.

CCMUA Public Engagement

The DEP’s Our Water’s Worth It award also recognized the CCMUA for its ongoing public engagement program and partnerships with local organizations through internships and green infrastructure programs that provide on-the-job training.

The CCMUA provides job training to students at local high schools through the Career Pathways internship program and partners with local community organizations such as PowerCorps Camden, an AmeriCorps program that supports young people to improve the environment, and Camden SMART, an initiative to develop green infrastructure projects in Camden City. To date, CCMUA estimates the city’s green infrastructure captures and cleans 4.3 million gallons of stormwater each year.

“CCMUA continues to implement measures to improve water quality with a focus on public engagement, community outreach and green spaces. Thanks to CCMUA’s proactive approach, the local community has benefited from reduced flooding and more park space,” said Patricia Gardner, Assistant Commissioner for Water Resource Management.

Our Water’s Worth It
The DEP launched the Our Water’s Worth It campaign in 2024 to raise public awareness about the fundamental importance of our water supplies, the threats they face, and the steps DEP is taking to ensure all New Jerseyans have access to clean drinking water and healthy waterways.
Previous Our Water’s Worth It awards have gone to Ridgewood Water for its efforts to conserve water and address PFAS contamination, Lambertville for its exemplary stormwater management program, and the New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute for its work to establish PFAS public health standards.

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