PSE&G Continues Attack on Harrison Residents

The Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) continues its attack on Harrison residents now opening two fronts.  On March 28, 2022, PSE&G continued its excavation to install new plastic gas lines on William Street in Harrison.  The prior day it had started its excavation and ruptured a water line to a resident's home requiring them to stop and spend the day and the night until 1 a.m. fixing the ruptured water connection.  Yesterday, PSE&G dug out a trench for the rest of the length of William Street and placed the dirt during the day not in dump trucks but on the street. 

The dump trucks according to what was overheard from PSE&G workers were not available, or someone forgot to request them.  The dirt was then piled up on the street soiling the blacktop and causing dust to swirl in the air and onto sidewalks and homes.  In our last story on the PSE&G, we wondered why PSE&G did not wait until June when students would be off for the summer at Lincoln School which is on the block.  Poor planning or is its total disregard for the resident of Harrison including parents and students who have to traverse a construction zone.

On Monday, March 28, 2022, PSE&G had a second crew come in for the night shift and move the dirt off the street into dump trucks.  The crew soiled the entire street moving the dirt and was there until 1:30 a.m. making noise including taking dirt from one end of the street to the far end.  Why the dump truck could not move to the middle was not clear to avoid the beeping of the reverse on the payloader the entire length of William Street. (See video)

PSE&G has no regard for the residents of Harrison who need to sleep to go to work early in the morning.  Rather than dig out 40 to 80 feet trenches to put in their 40 feet plastic sections of pipe, PSE&G digs a trench for the entire length of the street and then proceeds to take away much needed overnight parking spaces from residents and keeps them up until 1:30 a.m. with the beeping and noise of payloaders and dump trucks.  Not to mention the lights from the Payloaders going back and forth.

The Company's explanation from one PSE&G supervisor on William Street was that it was an emergency but that excuse does not hold any water or should we say natural gas.  PSE&G should only dig a certain amount of trenches that can be completed within the hours of 7 am. to 5 p.m.  It is not an emergency if you have poor planning. Or purposely want to dig a trench for the whole length of the street knowing that you cannot finish the work during the day and have a night crew scheduled to come in at night.  It is also abusive if you know within hours of starting work that dump trucks are not available to put the soil you are removing from trenches directly into a dump truck so it does not become a potential environmental hazard by blowing untested soil onto the street, sidewalks and a densely populated residential street, not to mention children walking on the street going to school but you continue to work Would PSE&G dare to do what they are doing in Harrison in Millburn, New Jersey?  We doubt it. 

To add insult, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, PSE&G opened up another front on its assault on Harrison Residents, it started work on the next street over,  Cross Street.  Cutting into the street on Frank E. Rodgers blocking traffic and making vehicles detour onto side streets.  It was not bad enough that cars and pedestrians had to share the road as PSE&G dug a trench into the intersection of William Street and North Frank E. Rodgers Blvd.

The Town of Harrison Ordinance and NJDEP regulations (The Noise Control Act of 1971, N.J.S.A. 13:1G-1 et seq ) prohibits excessive noise between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. in the morning

The statewide sound level standards are 50 decibels during nighttime (10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) and 65 decibels during daytime  Even if there was no Noise Control Ordinance and/or State Noise Control Law, PSE&G management should be planning street work in a manner to not keep residents up at night when they have to go to work early in the morning and need their sleep.  Many of the residents on William Street in particular go to work starting as early as 4 a.m. and most by 6 a.m.  Many had their sleep disrupted and then had to walk blocks to get their cars due to no parking overnight on the entire 400 block of William Street.

Has the Town of Harrison Administration has given up on regulating PSE&G gas line replacement?  PSE&G does whatever it wants without town supervision.

If you have an issue with PSE&G  you can email them at [email protected]. .  If you have a noise complaint you can call NJDEP at 1-877-927-6337 to report it or use the WARN NJDEP App available for iPhone or Android smartphones to report a Noise or Environmental concern.  The NJDEP will come to determine whether there is a violation.

Tell us what you think about PSE&G on our Discussion Board.