GOP Rep. Chris Smith reiterates offer to improve Trenton Water Works
HAMILTON >> Republican newly re-elected Congressman Chris Smith of Hamilton offered to help improve Trenton Water Works’ troubled operations and maintenance back in March and is still willing to assist.
In a letter sent to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine McCabe dated March 23, Smith said: “Many of my constituents from Hamilton Township have reached out to me to see if I can help remedy the situation. As a resident of Hamilton myself, I would be pleased to assist in this situation in any way I am able.”
Despite Smith’s willingness to help, the DEP declined his offer of assistance.
“Please pass on our sincere thanks for his interest in this matter,” DEP employee Adriana Caldarelli said in an email to Smith’s congressional staff, “and assure him that if the situation changes, and we need his help, we will be sure to reach out.”
Democratic Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes on Wednesday suggested Democratic challenger Josh Welle outperformed Smith in Mercer County in Tuesday’s general election due to Smith’s alleged failure to seek a federal solution to the troubled operations of TWW, a utility that has been cited with multiple DEP violations over the last two years.
“We could get federal support for Trenton Water Works even though it is not in his district. It supplies water to his district,” Hughes said Wednesday in an interview with The Trentonian. “With a Republican president, House and Senate, I didn’t hear Chris Smith even try to get federal funding for the Trenton Water Works.”
TWW provides drinking water to the capital city and to portions of Hamilton, Hopewell, Ewing and Lawrence townships.
“Several month ago, Congressman Smith offered to meet with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection with the thought of petitioning the federal Environmental Protection Agency where Commissioner Catherine McCabe once worked,” Smith’s district director Jeff Sagnip said Friday via email. “Chris’ offer still stands, and he will gladly work with the county executive and anyone else who wants to find an environmentally sound solution for those who get their water from the TWW.”
Smith won a landslide re-election Tuesday to a 20th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He represents New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District, which spans across portions of Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties.
The City of Trenton used to be part of the Fourth Congressional District until it got fully absorbed into the 12th Congressional District in 2011.