Monmouth County Health Department 8107

1
Monmouth County Health Department 8/1/07

• Monmouth Park Racetrack

Monmouth Park sample sites 1997-2005
2

• THE PROBLEM
• A mature 1,000-to-1,200 pound horse will produce
  40 to 45 pounds of manure per day (manure is
  about 75 to 80 percent water, so the actual dry
  matter weight is 8 to 9 pounds).
• Monmouth Park boards 1600 transient horses during
  the season.
• 1600 x 45 72,000 pounds/day
• Contaminated stormwater runoff from Monmouth Park
  Racetrack goes into Branchport Creek in the
  Shrewsbury River watershed.

3
Enterococcus is generally not a good predictor of
fecal coliform levels based on results of overall
2006 data (r 0.45).
However, Monmouth Park data has yielded
consistently strong correlations for 3 years.
4
According to the EPA, Monmouth Park has 1 of 6
CAFO NPDES Permits issued nationally for
racetracks (as of March 14, 2007).
Manure runoff from farms is exempted from
regulation by the DEP.
5
PERMIT CHRONOLOGY
1989 - Monmouth County Health Department begins
sampling in response to complaints from
Oceanport.1991 NJDEP executes Administrative
Consent Order to Monmouth Park for violating
Water Pollution Control Act.

• 1992 - Best Management Practices (BMPs)
  implemented for manure handling and storage.

1993- NJPDES/DSW permit issued. Monmouth County
Health Department sampling indicates bacteria
levels still elevated.
Manure shed built , leachate diverted to sanitary
line
6

• 1994-Proposals to build a stormwater collection
  system to collect first flush stormwater (CSO
  for manure) to be diverted to the Two Rivers
  Reclamation Authority.

• 1995- Stormwater collection system constructed
• 1996 NJPDES/DSW permit to discharge to 2 Rivers
  sewer plant.
• 2003 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation
  permit issued. Must collect wet weather discharge
  for a 25 yr storm (6.6 2.5 M gals.) by 2006.

Stormwater pump station to sanitary line.
Originally designed for 100,00 gallons dry
weather 250,000 gallons wet weather (total)
7
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 2004- 2006 As bacteria
levels increased, additional Best Management
Practices are initiated in the barn areas by the
end of 2004, manholes in the stormwater
collection system are being vacuumed. During
2005, Monmouth Park develops a monthly
maintenance program of the stormwater collection
system, which includes regular vacuuming out of
collection system manholes and collection pit
(JetVac collection system).

Example of MCHDs BMPs Inspection form.
8

SIGNAGE 7/21/06 MCHD and LBHD post advisories
for Branchport Creek up to the Port au Peck Av.
bridge (the same area posted from
1989-1995. 8/10/06 meeting with NJSEA, DEP,
MCHD and Oceanport NJSEA hires a consultant on
8/14. 8/17/06 consultant first visits MP COA
press conference.
Outfall pipe to Branchport Creek (sample site 6).
9

• From July through the remainder of 2006
• Monmouth Park performs further cleaning and
  inspection of collection system.
• Stormwater collection system was determined to be
  failing due to faulty tide check valves and
  sediment accumulation in trunk lines.

Tide check valve ( duckbill) stops creek water
from entering system
Infield pond outfall and overflow pit. (site 1
and 5)
10
9/05/06 - DEP PROVIDES SHELLFISH SAMPLING DATA
that is compared with MCHD sampling data.Signage
expands beyond Port au Peck Av. bridge.
Branchport Creek is Special Restricted, but it
is not a harvestable area. There are 2500 active
water monitoring stations statewide associated
with the shellfish program, (16 are for
phytoplankton) they are sampled 2 to 12 times
per year, in estuaries and in the ocean up to 3
nautical miles offshore. Between 1998 and 2003,
1975 surface water samples were collected at the
43 sampling stations on the Shrewsbury.
11
DEP SHELLFISH GEOMEANS FOR TOTAL COLIFORM
12
The 2006 Expanded Sampling indicates a reduction
in bacteria, limited to onsite and in Branchport
Creek at the RR bridge (6A).
13
No horses present, March and December Dry vs.
rain, cold water temps
14
Dry Weather, after horses arrive, June
15
Wet weather sample results lt.50
16
Wet Weather Samples gt1.00
17
4/12/07 -1.61 of rain, 44F water temperature,
just before the horses return
Site 2, Turtle Mill Creek upstream of Monmouth
Park, has the highest instream fecal coliform
levels when Monmouth Park is not actively
discharging manure related runoff. Instream
fecal coliform levels gradually drop until Site
14, when enterococcus levels become higher than
fecal coliform. This shift may be due to
enterococcus preference over fecal coliform for
higher salinity levels possibly the influence of
the pond at Monmouth Park and this site, as well
as the other anomalously high site, Site 15,
being a marina.
18
WATER QUALITY INFLUENCES

• MARINAS
• INFIELD POND
• URBAN WETLANDS
• STORMWATER

19
MARINAS

• Marinas and parks in the Branchport Creek, as
  well as in the Parkers Creek estuary, are piled
  with goose and sea gull droppings (by cracked
  shells), especially during the off season.
• The NJDEP shellfish monitoring program
  automatically classifies waters around marinas as
  prohibited for shellfish harvesting. Bacteria
  levels at the sites immediately downstream of 14
  and 15 (13 and 16) drop very significantly this
  indicates that the bacteria spikes at 14 and 15
  are from low-volume sources that transiently
  spike local bacteria levels.

20
INFIELD POND

• The pond outfall into the onsite collection
  box in Monmouth Park (Site 1), has not been
  found to be a significant source of manure
  runoff, and has never been directed into the
  Parks storm water treatment system - like any
  other pond or lake. The field around the pond is
  carpeted with waterfowl droppings. While Site 1
  has 9000 colonies of enterococcus, Site 6, the
  outfall discharging into Branchport Creek, has
  2100 colonies, slightly higher than the
  enterococcus level at Turtle Mews Creek (Site 2),
  which has 1600 colonies.

21
URBAN WETLANDS

• Site 2 at Oceanport Av., upstream of Monmouth
  Park, is located immediately adjacent to a
  wetlands corridor running along Rt. 36 urbanized
  wetlands are known to become sources of fecal
  bacteria, rather than sinks, because of animal
  and bird density, and because they become
  overwhelmed with stormwater volume from runoff
  from impervious surfaces, which can generate up
  to 16 times more runoff volume than woods.
  es.epa.gov/ncer_pubs/full_text/10919.pdf

22
STORMWATER

• There are corporate ponds upstream of
• Oceanport Av. that have resident waterfowl
  populations, as does Franklin Lake, which West
  Long Branch has plans to dredge and a golf
  course.

23
Advisory signs were re-posted. Results are now
posted online at http//www.visitmonmouth.com/heal
th/environmental/water/MonmouthPark/index.asp Ther
e was a pycnocline,,indicating a fresh water
discharge, preventing full water column mixing at
the Branchport Av. bridge. This shows the benefit
of reducing the freshwater discharge from the
pond.
24
5.25.2007 site visit - one tide check valve
might be failing and allowing infield pond water
into the collection system, and NJDEP was
informed. 06.22.07 - The collection system was
online. Most BMPs were being adhered to, but
the barn area was starting to accumulate hay that
is blown around in some areas. In comparison, the
area is significantly better than previous years.

25

• Salinity and temperature data indicate there was
  significant mixing of stormwater and marine
  waters from the nearly 10 hours of tidal movement
  after the rainfall, which ended at 0042 AM, and
  before sampling.
• While onsite inspection and sampling indicated
  the collection system was operating, the data is
  inconclusive because of the time gap between
  rainfall and sampling (the first 2 sampling
  events were conducted in or at the very end of
  rainfall).

26
STORMWATER On March 21
2007, a meeting was hosted by the Monmouth Beach
Environmental Commission to discuss Monmouth
Park. Attending were various environmental
commissions in the Shrewsbury River watershed
Clean Ocean Action and DEP, MCHD, and
MCPB. Suggestions were made for stormwater, not
wastewater, from the environmental
commissions/COA.
27
SUGGESTIONS

• 1) MPs stormwater plan should include the runoff
  that is not routed to the Two Rivers Reclamation
  Authority. Specifically noted was the paddock
  area and the parking lots by the paddock, which
  discharge into 3 outfalls, ranging from 1 foot to
  3 feet in diameter.
• 2) The MP pond should be used for irrigation,
  since the volume of the pond discharge is so
  large and it is not routed to the Two Rivers
  Reclamation Authority and to conserve potable
  water use.
• 3) Practicing Low Impact Development techniques
  to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff. This
  could reduce the size and extent of the pycnoline
  so full water column mixing (and dilution) could
  occur closer to the Park outfall, and further
  reduce the area where we would have to post signs.

28

• On June 22, 2007 an Administrative Order and
  Notice of Civil Administrative Penalty Assessment
  was issued by the New Jersey Department of
  Environmental Protection to Monmouth Park
  Racetrack.

29
Sampling immediately after rain on 7/18/07. Three
duckbilled outfalls along the southern barn
area were discharging into Branchport Creek
(OF5, 6 and 10).
30
Discharging outfalls 07.18.07
Pond (left) and back barn in pit.
Duckbill
Duckbill
Track 3 with sand bag in pit.
31
(No Transcript)