SOMERSET —
Even locked up in the county jail, some troublemakers continue to be a nuisance for their neighbors, Somerset Borough leaders say.
On at least three occasions over the past few years, county jail inmates have flushed massive amounts of bedsheets, toothpaste tubes, medicine containers, snack bags and other items into the borough’s sewers, causing backups into nearby homes, Borough Manager Benedict G. Vinzani Jr. said.
“I feel sorry for the taxpayers – the ones who live downhill from it,” borough Councilman Frederic Rosemeyer said at Monday’s council meeting.
Borough Solicitor John Dirienzo said he had been researching the issue at council’s instruction following the last incident. The borough already requires businesses introducing certain materials into the public sewage systems to install pretreatment equipment, he said.
“We don’t have anything to cover that stuff we are experiencing in this situation,” Dirienzo said.
The borough can require Somerset County to obtain a special permit and install pretreatment equipment, Dirienzo said, noting his frustration that the situation developed in the first place.
“This will take it from being something that just shouldn’t happen to something that can’t happen without a permit and pretreatment,” he said, offering to draw up the required ordinance.’
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