(10/P122) TRENTON - The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a Dec. 8 public meeting on Essex County’s draft sewer service area map as part of planning efforts to update the Northeast Water Quality Management Plan for the county.

At issue will be a service area covering all or parts of 10 Essex County municipalities: Caldwell, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Livingston, Roseland, Verona, West Caldwell and portions of Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and West Orange.

The map is a preliminary working draft developed in coordination with and reviewed by DEP, Essex County and the affected cities and towns. It reflects proposed changes in wastewater service area designations to eliminate conflicts with Category One waters, wetlands, threatened and endangered species habitats and other unique and rare ecological communities.

The draft is subject to change in response to information provided by the public. The preliminary working draft map can be viewed at: http://www.hatchmott.com/essexcountywwmp/index.html.

"It is imperative that we update these wastewater management plans to avoid conflicts between environmentally sensitive areas and future sewer service areas," said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. "The designation of sewer service areas has a profound influence on shaping the pattern and intensity of future development in the state."

After the close of the public comment period, any final adjustments to the map will be made and a build-out analysis will be developed for the delineated wastewater service areas to determine future watershed treatment facility capacity needs. Based on that analysis, further refinements to the wastewater service area designations may be necessary.

The Dec. 8 public meeting will be held at the Essex County Public Works Building, 900 Bloomfield Avenue, Verona, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Another formal public comment process may take place prior to adoption.

The DEP and Essex County officials will accept comments and information related to this map from the date of posting until January 7, 2011, which is 30 days after the public meeting.

Meanwhile, sewer issues for the other Essex County municipalities, including Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Glen Ridge, Irvington, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair, Newark, Nutley, Orange, South Orange and portions of Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and West Orange, are addressed by either the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission Wastewater Management Plan, which was adopted December 4, 2006 and is up to date, or by the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties WMP, which is currently being reviewed by DEP.