State of NJ and Federal Government fast track local community flood remediation projects for the township of Fairfield, NJ and neighboring communities.

WE, the undersigned, demand that the State of NJ and Federal Government fast track local community flood remediation projects for the township of Fairfield, NJ and neighboring communities. All required resources (people, funds, equipment) to eliminate the repeated severe flooding that is jeopardizing our safety, health and welfare throughout the community should be immediately allocated until completion of all projects. The impact of the neglected storm water system, which relies on the Passaic River, affects us geographically from river banks to homes, businesses, schools, churches and other public institutions as well as transportation corridors. The citizens, from children to adults, are being subjected to financial and emotional hardships directly caused by the neglect of the river as a flood control mechanism while the continued development increases water runoff.

- Build a Jetty at Two Bridges Road in Fairfield/Lincoln Park NJ to address the documented reverse flow issue at the confluence of the Passaic & Pompton River that is directly contributing to the flooding in our communities. This issue was previously documented by the U.S Army Corp of Engineers study in 1983, 28 years ago. The jetty will aid in reducing the severity of flooding by maintaining continuous flow downstream.

- Dredge our rivers, waterways and canals immediately and on a regular basis to restore channel depths and widths to remove the decades of accumulated debris and silt, which impedes the natural flow and storage capacity of the river from Pine Brook to Beatties Dam in Little Falls.

- Modify Beatties Dam at Little Falls to reduce height, install floodgates, and remove rock impediments immediately upstream of dam. This local project has been identified in a previous U.S Army Corp of Engineers study from 1989 as having a direct impact on the magnitude and frequency of flooding for local communities of this outdated turn of the century dam. The implementation of this local project will aid in reducing the severity of flooding to these local communities.

- Implement moratorium on building upstream and in flood plain until an action plan is implemented to address the continued flooding issues of the Passaic River which has become an undersized, unmaintained storm drain facilitator. This moratorium shall remain in place until demonstrated favorable results are measured for a minimum of five (5) years before any changes to such moratorium are considered. A continued failure to implement such action will only result in continued repetitive flooding that costs the local communities, State and federal Government hundreds of millions of dollars for each occurrence.


Continued neglect by the State of NJ, and Federal Government to implement such measures will contribute to further devastating, repetitive flooding in our community. The financial impact for each flooding event costs hundreds of millions of dollars and would be better invested in a cure vs. the symptoms. Current policies that approve additional building in the region is overloading storm drainage to the Passaic River and exponentially contributing to increased flood frequency and severity. Government agency responsibilities and policies need to be changed to correct the out of control situation which has been consistently ignored. Residents throughout Fairfield, NJ and our neighboring communities have suffered tremendous personal loss. Our concern for our safety, health and quality of life must be mitigated by our Government for the People.. Relief is needed now.