Broken water pipe, legal chemical spill causing thousands of dead fish in lake and stream

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News 12 Staff

August 10, 2021, 7:00 p.m.

Updated on: Aug 10, 2021, 7:00 p.m.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, as well as the County of Middlesex Hazmat, have been forced to deal with thousands of dead fish, and the water line rupture last week in Piscataway is in part to blame.

There are no fish in Lake Creighton in Victor Crowell Park.

The rupture caused water to enter the sanitary sewer system, which apparently sent sewage full of contaminants legally into local waters.

This is combined with the legal dumping of a chemical into Ambrose Creek from Spray-Tek Inc. led to a surfactant that made its way into the lake – this surfactant removes oxygen from the water and leads to major cleaning of dead fish.

To me, I would call it an aquatic morgue, says Middlesex Borough Mayor John L. Madden. Because there is nothing alive in it. It was the perfect storm between the main break and the chemicals from our chemical company, it’s disgusting.

Mayor Madden says he’s seen turtles sitting on branches sticking out of the water to escape the chemical. But that wasn’t all he noticed.

We have a beautiful blue heron, says Madden. I saw him yesterday, I haven’t seen him today. In fact, I saw him on the shore from here. He actually picked up a fish and spat it out.

The mayor says the water in neighboring homes is fine, but people and pets should avoid the lake until further notice.

The New Jersey DEP says a few heavy rains could help wash off the chemical, but if not, the mayor says it may take a full dredging project to get the lake to function properly again.

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