Murphy seeks $500M bond to replace lead paint, pipes

TRENTON >> New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday called for borrowing $500 million to pay for the removal of lead paint in homes and the replacement of thousands of lead pipes across the state as part of a “comprehensive strategy” aimed at addressing the public health concern.

Murphy unveiled his plan at Thomas Edison State University, alongside a group called Jersey Water Works that unveiled its own set of recommendations Thursday, including replacing all lead pipes over 10 years.

“New Jersey must move forward with a truly comprehensive and whole-ofgovernment approach to removing the danger of lead from our communities,” he said. “And we will.”

Murphy’s plan comes two months after the state’s biggest city, Newark, announced that some of the filters it had handed out failed and lead was located in drinking water. Since then the city has begun replacing about 18,000 of its lead service lines, pipes leading from water mains to residences, financed by a $120 million bond taken on by Essex County.

It’s unclear how much of the work the $500 million would cover since estimates suggested replacing the state’s lead pipes could cost up to $2 billion, and the price tag has been a primary hurdle to replacement in the past.

But Murphy said he expects that $500 million would suffice because of money already available for the Department of Environmental Protection. Murphy also said that privately owned water companies in the state could pay for their share of the work through rate increases.