Who removed vegetation and ran drainage pipes into Morristown’s Burnham Pond?
Morristown officials last night told the town council they still are trying to find out.
“We are fully investigating this and will get to the bottom of it,” Mayor Tim Dougherty said. “We want to make sure we do it the right way.”
Town Attorney Vij Pawar said the Mayor has directed him to send letters to homeowners around the town pond, and to officials in bordering Morris Township, where some of those homeowners actually reside, reminding them that Morristown intends to enforce zoning ordinances to protect the pond.
Former town board of adjustment chairman John Codd grew alarmed months ago when, during walks with his dog through the Burnham Park, he noticed alterations to the “riparian buffer zone” of vegetation that rings the pond.
Installation of the barrier zone started in 2001, with an aim to control erosion, stabilize the banks along the pond’s edge, filter runoff into the pond and hinder takeoffs and landings of geese that foul the pond, according to the Burnham Park Association.
The association’s efforts have been assisted by the town, the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee, the Boy Scouts, the Morris Land Conservancy and engineering consultants from Omni Environmental.
In April, John Codd wrote to Morristown officials to report that vegetation had been removed in at least two areas. He also said a drainage pipe appeared to run beneath town property from a Mendham Road home to the pond, where some sort of effluent was being discharged.
Town Engineer Jeff Hartke spoke with association members in May and said he would test the effluent; Mayor Dougherty toured the site this month.
The town is proceeding cautiously, the Mayor said last night, because it’s still unclear who the culprits are.
“It could have been a fisherman one day” who chopped out the vegetation, he suggested. And it’s possible someone may have obtained easements years ago to run pipes to the pond, said Vij Pawar.
The attorney told the council he continues to investigate the matter.
I suspect the geese. They’re still ticked about being addled.
All the same test the ‘effluent’ and see if it is any worse that what runs into the pond overground or through other inputs.
follow the pipes and fine the culprits!
All the more reason to bring back the hanging tree on the Green!