Newark Reaches Big Turning Point With Its Lead Water Crisis – Newark, NJ Patch

NEWARK, NJ — Newark has reached a big turning point in its battle against lead water contamination, city officials recently announced.

At 14.1 parts per billion (ppb) as of last week, the average lead levels in Newark’s water have fallen below 15 parts per billion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s benchmark of an “acceptable level,” according to Mayor Ras Baraka and Water and Sewer Utilities Director Kareem Adeem.

It’s the first time Newark has found itself below the EPA’s allowable trace lead presence since 2017.

“This moment is what we’ve been working toward, a moment when we can say our water is in compliance with lead and copper rule, where the facts speak for themselves,” Baraka said last week. “These results prove the City of Newark is committed to delivering the purest water possible to our residents and the people of surrounding towns who consume our water.”

The mayor added the trace lower levels were “expected” when the city introduced a new corrosion treatment system last year.

In May 2019, Newark began introducing orthophosphate into the water system to control corrosion of lead service lines, which connect older, small buildings and homes to the city’s water mains. According to officials, large apartment houses, office buildings and institutions were not impacted, nor were buildings constructed after 1953, the year the city banned the use of lead in service lines.

Last December, water samples showed a 74 percent drop in lead levels to an average of 17.3 ppb after seven months of the new corrosion control.

“Of course, the long-term solution is the replacement of all city lead lines, and we are far ahead of schedule in that project, not losing much of a step through the global pandemic” Baraka added. “Once that is completed, we anticipate seeing numbers closer to zero.”

That work began last spring and an Essex County $120 million bond last fall allowed the city to accelerate the work. To date, close to 13,000 lines are completed and crews, who have worked steadily through the COVID-19 pandemic, are currently replacing about 75 per day, city officials said.

Gov. Phil Murphy offered a congratulations to Newark, applauding the effort to replace thousands of lead service lines in the city.

“Aging infrastructure and lead exposure in drinking water has plagued communities throughout the state and across the nation for decades,” Murphy said. “New Jersey must continue to move forward to remediate this issue and work collaboratively across all levels of government to remove the dangers of lead from our communities.”

Adeem said the new results were attainable because the community cooperated with the city by using water to help coat the lead pipes, allowing workers quick access to their homes for lead line replacement.

Their patience made a world of difference, Adeem said.

“It’s always important when we see progress to thank the residents,” Adeem said. “They have been patient, cooperative and worked with us to solve this situation as a community.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which previously launched a lawsuit against the city over its bottled water distribution program, said that despite the gains, Newark “isn’t out of the woods yet.”

“Simply put, there are no safe levels of lead,” said Erik Olson, senior strategic director for health at the NRDC. “It’s promising that lead levels in Newark’s drinking water are apparently coming down, and that many lead service lines have been replaced. But as the mayor said, the job isn’t finished yet.”

According to Olson, detailed data should be publicly released to confirm the reported levels and to determine if lower levels will be sustained in the coming months.

“We’re hoping levels will continue coming down and look forward to the completion of the lead service line replacement program,” Olson said. “Residents should continue to use filters with cartridges that have not expired, follow flushing instructions, and get their water tested for free by the city.”

WATER CRISIS IN NEWARK

City officials offered the following background information about the effort to battle lead water contamination over the past four years.

“In the spring of 2016, Newark began to experience elevated lead levels in several schools, as one in eight samples showed exceedances above 15 ppb. Bottled water was brought in for drinking, and wider sampling showed only five percent of the exceedances were from drinking sources. City and state officials began investigating the cause and, in the spring of 2017, exceedances were noted in 10 of 100 samples taken from private homes. As with the schools, residents were notified of their exceedances through their water bills, city mailers and town hall meetings, and testing continued. The next several cycles of testing, and a lead-line biopsy by the EPA, showed the corrosion system from the Pequannock treatment plant, which serves less than half the city, had faltered. Within days of that finding, the city began distributing 40,000 filters, which eventually proved 99 percent effective in reducing lead levels when flushed properly. The city continues to offer cartridge replacements for free and instructions on how to install and properly maintain the filters.”

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