Fight Against Lead Water Still Urgent, Essex County Officials Say – Bloomfield, NJ Patch

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — It’s an “invisible threat” that will require an expensive fix. But the conversation about lead water contamination needs to happen… and it needs to happen soon, some officials say.

Last week, Rep. Mikie Sherrill of District 11 spearheaded a field hearing in Bloomfield to discuss the effects of lead in drinking water and the challenges that local leaders face when it comes to tackling contamination.

Sherrill, who chairs the House Science Investigations and Oversight subcommittee, was accompanied by subcommittee members Don Beyer and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, who spoke about recent instances of lead contamination in several Virginia schools.

The meeting included testimony from Rep. Donald Payne Jr. of New Jersey’s 10th District, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia, and Nutley Mayor Joseph Scarpelli.

According to a statement from Sherrill, lead was the most common material for water service lines in the United States prior to 1950. Although Congress banned the use of lead in plumbing materials in 1986, the EPA estimates 6.5 to 10 million lead service lines remain nationwide. Exposure is also attributed to lead goosenecks, brass fittings, faucets, and valves as well as galvanized pipes downstream from lead plumbing.

The Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics says there is no safe level of lead exposure for children. Even low levels of lead have a severe effect on children, particularly under the age of six. Lead exposure can impact learning problems, lower IQ, hyperactivity, hearing problems and anemia.

“Lead in water is an invisible threat for our families, with indelible consequences,” Sherrill said. “We have aging water infrastructure in New Jersey and across the country that must be addressed to keep our children safe.”

Sherrill said the “expensive, complicated issue” requires coordination from the local to the federal level.

“Our local officials are working incredibly hard to protect our communities and their testimony provides further evidence of that,” Sherrill said.

According to the congresswoman, federal officials will take the findings back to Washington D.C. to advocate for “more federal infrastructure and research funding” to combat the nationwide issue of lead water contamination.

Payne said the hearing was “informative and instrumental.”

“It was important for the public to hear what our local officials have been doing to solve this crisis and that they have been working on it before it became a major issue,” Payne said. “We learned about the health problems caused by lead and how technology is being used to remove it in Newark’s water.”

“This is an issue which has been and will continue to be a problem across the country,” Payne added.

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