Northern NJ hotel owner admits discharging polluted wastewater into river, must pay $75,000

Hotel owner pleads guilty to polluting NJ river

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The owner of a northern New Jersey hotel has admitted discharging wastewater contaminated with sewage into a river.

RD Secaucus LP is the corporate owner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Secaucus, just west of New York City. It pleaded guilty Monday to unlawfully discharging a pollutant into the 50-mile-long Hackensack River.

The firm was sentenced to pay $75,000 to the Hackensack Riverkeeper volunteer group for its patrol and maintenance programs. It also must monitor its wastewater handling.

An anonymous tip to Hackensack Riverkeeper last June triggered a state environmental and criminal investigation that led to an indictment against the hotel owner in September.

The hotel’s owner says the situation originated with prior management and it acted quickly and responsibly after being alerted to the problem.