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Consolidate Student Loans Three years after a torrential storm washed out four dams and damaged 26 in northwest New Jersey, dam owners delinquent on inspections and repairs find themselves having to answer to the Attorney General's Office.

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Home Equity Loans The crackdown on private dam owners began in September 2000, a month after a storm dumped 14 inches of rain in 24 hours on some towns, and caused $179 million in property damage. The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered 860 dams inspected, some of which had not been checked in more than a decade.

"We're a nonregulatory agency, " she said. "We have nothing to do with enforcing state laws." By the time the DEP, acting on a tip, arrived on Gillespie's property in March 2000, workers had dug much of the new pond and deposited the fill in what the DEP later determined to be a wetlands buffer area. They also had cut a section of earth from the old pond's dam to install a new overflow pipe, an act the DEP said required a permit.

Home Equity Loan Rates The DEP's dam safety program, which oversees the state's 1,663 dams, largely had monitored only the state's 195 high-hazard dams -- those that could cause death and significant property damage if they were breached.

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Homeowner Loans The agency, under criticism for not enforcing inspection requirements, turned its attention to the significant-hazard dams, those likely to cause significant property damage but no deaths, and the low-hazard dams, which are unlikely to cause either death or major property damage if they burst.

Equity Loan Rates Of the 689 dams inspected since then, 35 have been found unsafe, including one high-hazard dam owned by the state.

Student Consolidation Loans Those owners who ignored the state's directive or failed to make the DEP's mandated repairs have had their cases turned over to the Attorney General's Office. The law enforcement agency is suing four dam owners and negotiating with 55 others who were ordered to make repairs, spokesman Lee Moore said.

Second Mortgages "We've made significant progress in the past few years," said John Moyle, manager of the DEP's Bureau of Dam Safety and Flood Control. "Our goal is to make dams safe, not spend time in court."

Federal Consolidation Loan Charles and Cordelia Puttkammer, owners of the Inn at Millrace Pond in Hope Township, got swept up in the DEP's crackdown. Their 230-year-old stone dam, built by the community's Moravian founders, was deemed unsafe and the Puttkammers were ordered to repair it or remove it.

Equity Loan The Puttkammers spent thousands of dollars on engineering studies and tree clearing, but they were slow to do the $150,000 required repairs.

Refinancing With Bad Credit Then, during the heavy rains of June, the dam burst and the pond washed away. Though the dam had been designated a significant hazard, no damage occurred downstream, Moyle confirmed.

Home Equity Line Of Credit "It's sad. This is the Inn at Millrace Pond, and now we have no pond," Charles Puttkammer said.

Federal Consolidation The couple said the loss has one upside: Their days of dealing with the state are over. "In a way, maybe it was a godsend," Cordelia Puttkammer said.

Equity Loans In June 2001, the DEP directed Deborah Ginard of Rockaway Township to either fix or remove the low-hazard dam she owned. She ignored the order. Two weeks ago, the state sued.

Student Loan Consolidate Ginard said she cannot afford the $100,000 it could cost to repair the dam, which holds a 10-acre lake. "If push comes to shove, we'll just empty the lake out," she said.

Consolidate Loans Faced with steep repair costs, more owners might opt to remove their dams and let their lakes and ponds dry up, Moyle said.

Home Loans Refinancing "It usually comes down to dollars," he said. His office has approved two dam removals, and he has another three applications on his desk.

Consolidate College Loans Moyle said removing most small dams, many of which were built in Colonial times, won't harm the environment.

Student Loan Refinance "We're not saying it's bad for the environment, but it is a change," he said, noting the drained bodies of water will still be wetlands.

Equity Home Removing dams and draining lakes could, however, affect property values, said Sen. Robert Littell (R-Sussex). He sponsored legislation putting a referendum on the November ballot to approve borrowing $200 million for dam repairs and other water-improvement projects.

Home Line Of Credit If approved, the bond measure would provide $95 million in low-interest loans to municipalities and residents to help repair their dams. Another $15 million would pay for repairs of state-owned dams.

Home Equity Poor Credit "It's good news for communities concerned that lakes might have to be de-watered if dams aren't repaired," DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell said. He said it also should comfort "homeowners whose property might be in harm's way."

Home Refinance Loans One of the cases turned over to the Attorney General's Office was that of the Skillman Lake Dam, a high-hazard dam in Montgomery Township.

125 Equity Loan The dam is on the property of what had been the North Princeton Development Center, a neuro-psychiatric unit run by the state Department of Human Services.

Credit Equity Home Line When the center was shut down several years ago, the property was turned over to the state Treasury Department, which has been negotiating to sell it to Montgomery Township, Treasury spokesman Tom Vincz said.

Equity Line Of Credit Vincz said the lake had been lowered, to take pressure off the dam, so that it doesn't pose a risk.

Bad Credit Mortgage Refinance By Margaret McHugh
Star-Ledger - 8/3/2003

Topic: Water

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