Preservationists push to include historic pump house in Levine Reservoir study

The battle between various municipal, state and federal agencies over the proposed water tank project at the historic Stanley M. Levine Reservoir on Grand Street in Paterson may expand to include the 19th-century pump house across the street. 

The state Historic Preservation Office this week sent a letter to the federal Environmental Protection Agency requesting that the pump house be included in what's called a Section 106 review, which is currently underway in the Great Falls historic district.

"The Pumping Station played a significant role in the operation of the Levine Reservoir (previously known as the Stony Road Reservoir or Grand Street Reservoir) from 1896 to 1915 and retains significant integrity to convey its significant associations with the Reservoir and the industrial development of Paterson," Katherine J. Marcopul, the deputy state historic preservation officer, wrote in a letter to the EPA dated Thursday.

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Although it is no longer in use as a pump house, Marcopul wrote that the building is eligible for the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. 

The review aims to assess the impact that the tank project would have not only on the aesthetics of the Levine Reservoir, but on the surrounding Great Falls and Society of Useful Manufactures Historic District, which is a national landmark, and the neighboring Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park.  

Some agencies, most notably the National Park Service, have criticized the EPA's handling of the 106 review and want to expand its scope to include more vantage points in the historic district. Critics contend that the tanks, once built, would be visible from the park. The EPA maintains they would not be seen. 

The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. 

Including the pump station in the 106 review would automatically expand its scope and add another historic property to the study. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which guides the 106 review, says disturbing historic properties should be avoided whenever possible. But if they are to be disturbed, the disruption must be mitigated to the greatest extent possible.  

The Levine tanks, which are estimated to cost $18 million, is Phase I of the Passaic Valley Water Commission's $135 million project to drain its three open-air reservoirs on Garret Mountain that store treated drinking water. The EPA has ordered all utilities that store treated drinking water in open reservoirs to cover those facilities, re-treat the water or build tanks. 

Although the Levine tank project is unpopular with the National Park Service and historic preservationists involved in the Great Falls, the EPA is solidly in favor of it. After assessing the alternatives, the EPA earlier this summer released its findings, and in a letter sent to stakeholders in the Great Falls historic district, the agency declared that building tanks at Levine was the most practical and cost effective way to meet the mandate.

The EPA says the two tanks, which would rise 20 feet above the surface of the reservoir, would not be visible from Grand Street, and could be camouflaged with trees and shrubs. But some critics contend they would be visible and believe the EPA should not be in charge of the Section 106 review because it supports the tank project. 

"I need to understand how it is not a blatant conflict of interest for the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be conducting the Section 106 review to determine the appropriateness of the project to comply with its own rules," said Bob Guarasci, the executive director the New Jersey Community Development Corp., the anti-poverty non-profit located in the historic district. "I do not believe that any analysis from EPA can be viewed as objective." 

Guarasci noted that Paterson is a majority Latino city, but that the EPA has done nothing to engage residents in Spanish. 

Another opponent of the project, David Soo, said there are a number of alternatives yet to be considered. One, he said, involves taking the Levine Reservoir offline and using it as a park. Another would be to expand the size of the two tanks proposed for the New Street reservoir, located uphill at the entrance to Garret Mountain Reservation. 

A third alternative would be to locate the Levine tanks at the former site of Minardi's Bakery, next door to the reservoir on Grand Street. Soo, the executive director of the non-profit Paterson Friends of the Great Falls, submitted these suggestions to the EPA as part of the Section 106 review.