For Immediate Release

August 20, 2020

Get the Lead Out Virtual Press Conference- Solutions for Newark

The New Jersey Sierra Club and the Newark Water Coalition held a virtual press conference to highlight ways Newark can get lead-free water. Even during a pandemic, children are being poisoned by lead. In urban areas like Newark, 25% of the water travelling through these pipes leak out. The Newark Water Coalition has worked to educate Newark residents on the dangers of lead in the water and put pressure on the government for long term change.

“We support the Newark Water Coalition and their efforts to help deal with the serious lead issue in Newark. The people of Newark had to put up with lead in their homes and their drinking water for decades. The Coalition has been representing the people on the front lines in dealing with these lead issues and trying to get the government to cooperate and function. This was a big issue two years ago and everyone was supposed to do something about it but headlines have receded and so has the political will along with the funding and leadership. That is why we are here. People are suffering with the pandemic and lead in their drinking water. New Jersey has a crisis with lead in our drinking water, whether you live in a city, the suburbs, or in rural areas. Lead is one of the most hazardous substances known to man and it impacts children, especially small children,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The Governor, the Mayor of Newark and all the politicians made a commitment to Newark and the people there that they would replace these pipes. Now it seems like what happened in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, they have moved on to other issues while the people in Newark and in other cities of New Jersey are left with the same problem.”

The Newark Water Coalition’s main purpose is to educate the residents and mobilize them into organizing their communities to demand clean water for Newark. The coalition demands every residence needs to be provided with a point of entry filter until the pipes are replaced, blood testing for all residents in all wards, a fully funded, comprehensive treatment plan available for residents with lead poisoning for a minimum of 10 years, no one in Newark should have to pay a water utility bill until their home water lead level is reliable at zero for service and main lines and mandatory independent testing and monitoring in every household and apartments. Test the pipes in the house, the supply to the house and the street pipe. This information will be delivered to the individuals, even renters.

“People are still drinking water that they shouldn’t be drinking,” said Anthony Diaz, co-founder of the Newark Water Coalition. “People are unaware that there’s still a problem in the city of Newark and the city is maintaining this narrative, like, ‘Hey, it’s all good and we’ve done all we can. One of the issues that we have is that every program that the city has come out with, the filter program, the water distribution program, the lead service line program, the educational program — there’s holes that can be poked into each and every one of them. The city has the funding and a great plan, the question is, will you be able to execute it.”

Lead levels in Newark’s water supply tested at 52 parts per billion between January 1 and June 30 of 2019. These are the highest levels ever recorded in Newark, an increase from 48 parts per billion during the last 6 months of 2018. Newark officials say orthophosphate corrosion control systems should begin to reduce the lead levels over the second half of 2019.

“Newark has to do a better job at protecting their drinking water. They need to close their open reservoir systems for finished water. This water supply can become contaminated with runoff, geese, or even toxic dumping. Most importantly, the failure to have a closed reservoir with secondary treatment does not allow you to add orthophosphates to the water to buffer the pipes and prevent lead accumulation. New Jersey must also move forward with opening a new treatment facility at Pequannock North Watershed. Newark also needs to protect the water going into the treatment plants from runoff and pollution,” said Tittel. “Many places in New Jersey have old pipes. Some of this infrastructure goes back to the Victorian Age. Whether the pipes are made with lead solder or are simply allowing lead to leach in and out, they need to be replaced and upgraded to keep the lead out of our homes.”

Lead abatement funding from the state has suffered for years. Gov. Murphy has diverted money that could have gone toward fixing pipes in Newark to other sources. In the state budget FY2021-2022, $80 million was removed for lead infrastructure programs under the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and $1,500,000 was taken from Health Childhood Lead Outreach.

“The state needs to fund the Newark infrastructure in its entirety. We also need to make sure we are funding the programs that are going to be needed from this generational poisoning. There was harm done that cannot be solved by just replacing the lead service lines. The Newark Water Coalition wants to make sure that we are fighting for a zero lead result in Newark’s Water system and to make sure that residents get the resources they need holistically now and for the future.” said Diaz.

The state of Michigan is expected to pay about $600 million to victims of the Flint water crisis whose health was damaged by lead-tainted drinking water after the city heeded state regulators’ advice not to treat it properly.

“It’s good that the people of Flint who have been dealing with lead in their drinking water will finally be compensated. New Jersey should follow. Unfortunately, Governor Murphy has taken $80 million away from DEP for dealing with lead and another $1.5 million for outreach and education on lead. New Jersey allowed construction of a gas pipeline that destroyed a home but stopped construction to replace water lines. This makes no sense. Things are being delayed and money is being taken away,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Right now, private well lead restrictions are only 5 ppb even though the state level is 15 ppb. This is wrong. A child living in an apartment in Newark can be exposed to lead levels that are three times the amount of a child living in Mendham. Our state lead standards need to be lowered from 15 ppb to 1 ppb, like in California. It’s time for real action to protect our drinking water supply and infrastructure.”