Laws proposed to regulate response to water crises
TRENTON » Following the complaints of neighboring communities about the lack of notification to officials regarding the Trenton Water Works’ elevated lead crisis, a state legislator is proposing legislation to require proper alerts.
Assemblyman Dan Benson (D-Mercer/Middlesex) will introduce two bills on Thursday to address concerns about how Trenton Water Works deals with customers and officials in Trenton, Hamilton, Lawrence, Hopewell and Ewing, his office said in a press release.
One bill would require the Trenton Water Works to notify municipalities and school districts if any system fails lead testing.
“More specifically, if the water system has lead levels above the action level, municipalities must be provided with information on what areas of the given system were tested and where elevated lead levels are found,” the assemblyman’s proposal states.
The other measure Benson plans to introduce would allow municipalities to request funding from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in order to reimburse their residents the cost of water testing from a DEP certified laboratory.
Last week, Trenton sent out notification letters to residents because more than 10 percent of 119 samples of water tested above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acceptable lead level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) from Jan. 1 until June 30, which is a violation of the Lead & Copper Rule. Fourteen homes, including six from Trenton, four from Hamilton, three from Lawrence and one from Ewing, were above the threshold, according to information provided by DEP. The highest level tested was 106 ppb from a residence in Trenton.
Officials from Hamilton, Ewing and Lawrence affected by the crisis blasted Trenton’s “lack of professionalism” in dealing with the situation last week. None of the local municipalities were notified beforehand that a letter would be sent out to all residents notifying them that water had tested above the appropriate lead levels
“And every time this happens, we never get
a phone call,” Hamilton Township Health Officer Jeff Plunkett said last week in frustration, noting the township was blindsided. “It’s like there’s a fumble and everybody’s diving for the ball and that shouldn’t happen when municipalities border each other and have a service that’s provided by one to the other. The lack of professionalism of a non-call is so disturbing it’s unbelievable.”
Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson said in a statement last week that the
city “must ensure that water quality is at its highest levels.”
“To that end, we are making substantial investments in filtration, storage, feeder systems and personnel,” said Jackson, a former city public works director. “We have recently issued a request for proposal (RFP) for additional services to help us reach designated day-to-day operational goals related to the city’s water filtration. We also want help assessing and developing additional techniques to strengthen our control corrosion program for the pre-1947 underground pipes that circulate water in the system.”
Benson said the actual locations tested for lead were confidential and not publicly available.
“While I am glad that Trenton Water Works is taking appropriate steps to identify the source of corrosion in their systems, I firmly believe that the Department of Environmental Protection guidelines for notification are in need of revision,” Benson said. “Our residents deserve assistance in covering the high costs of testing and greater transparency can only keep the people of New Jersey safer and healthier. We cannot expect families to wait six months for a resample with the potential of continual lead exposure.”
Benson said the Lead & Copper Rule requires the notification letter, but does not cover the cost of testing for its customer, nor are there currently public funds to assist homeowners.