Newark settles lawsuit over lead in drinking water; new pipes spell end to city’s saga

A major chapter in Newark’s drinking water saga comes to an end.

On Tuesday, the Defense Council for Natural Resources announced that it had reached an agreement with the city in federal court on how to deal with high levels of lead in the city’s drinking water system, along with the Newark Education Workers Caucus. The news marks the end of a lawsuit filed in 2018 by the NRDC and the NEW Caucus against Newark and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

As part of the settlement, Newark must continue to replace the lead service lines – the garden hose-sized pipes that are at the heart of the problem – free of charge to residents. Newark had an estimated 18,000 such lead pipes in its water system at the start of the crisis. According to the city, 17,048 of these lines had been replaced by Tuesday morning. This work is expected to be completed in the spring of this year.

“By the grace of God, we are nearing the completion of our leadership exchange program. I am grateful that we identified the problem, got the job done, and helped make our residents safer,” said Ras Baraka, Mayor of Newark in a statement.

The city will also continue to distribute water filters, offer free lead tests to residents upon request, and run a city-wide promotional campaign to remind residents to get their water tested. The DEP has set up a special email address ([email protected]) and a hotline (609-292-5550) for residents concerned about Newark water as part of the settlement. The state will also set up an online resource center on Newark’s main topics in February.

In return, the suing stakeholders agree to reject their complaint with bias, which means that the groups will not be able to bring any further lawsuits in the future over the same key issues. As part of the settlement, Newark and the DEP deny the violation of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

“Lead damages the brains of children, so our group of public school teachers brought up this case to help ensure safe drinking water for families in Newark,” said Yvette Jordan, NEW Caucus chair and Central High School teacher, in a statement. “Fortunately, our actions worked. Newark has come a long way to provide a better future for its children, and this arrangement will ensure the job is done. “

Erik Olson, NRDC’s Senior Strategic Director for Health, praised NEW Caucus for fighting to fully resolve the problems and applauded the city for setting a new standard for getting lead out of water.

“NEW Caucus and others have campaigned for safe drinking water in Newark, an extraordinary victory for generations of children who will live healthier and better lives because they will not drink leaded tap water,” Olson said in a statement. “Newark’s aggressive lead service line replacement program, which has no direct cost to local residents, could serve as a model for the nation once it is completed.”

The lawsuit was filed after high levels of lead first appeared in the city’s schools in 2016 and throughout the drinking water system in 2017.

Lead exposure can have serious health effects, especially in children. Lead can damage a child’s brain and cause learning and behavior problems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no safe amount of lead in a child’s blood.

Newark’s drinking water sources do not contain lead. Instead, decades-old lead pipes and plumbing, from faucets in schools to utility lines connecting individual homes to plumbing, have been the focus of the lead problems in Newark.

If the water is not chemically balanced, it can attack old pipes as it flows through them, which in turn can cause lead to get into drinking water just before it reaches the tap.

Water systems use anti-corrosive treatments to prevent lead from old pipes from getting into drinking water. Newark’s guiding problems began when changes to water treatment at the city’s troubled Pequannock facility caused corrosion protection to become ineffective.

MORE: Check out our comic that shows how lead got into drinking water across New Jersey

The NEW Caucus and NRDC filed their lawsuit after the city relocated in early 2018 to minimize lead issues. In the course of the lawsuit, stakeholders advocated the city to be more aggressive in providing filters and mineral water to residents. and asked if state regulators had done enough to ensure that Newark’s water department was properly treating the water to avoid lead problems.

Newark began distributing free water filters to residents in October 2018 after the lawsuit was filed, but only residents in some parts of the city were eligible. The NRDC and NEW Caucus argued in court that the program should be expanded citywide, but Judge Esther Salas denied the request.

Further steps to reduce lead began in 2019 when the city launched a modest lead service line replacement program and changed its anti-corrosion treatment method at the Pequannock plant.

The water crisis peaked in the summer of 2019 when three tests questioned the effectiveness of the filters distributed around the city. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requested the distribution of bottled water, and these handouts continued until a fuller examination of the filters showed that they were working properly.

During the bottled water dispense, Essex County and Newark announced a $ 120 million program to begin replacing the city’s top service line. The cash infusion meant that all problem lines were replaced in less than three years at no cost to residents.

Jordan said she believed the lawsuit put pressure on the city to accelerate action.

“Once the citizens took the floor, the city moved in a flash and made sure that was done,” Jordan told NJ Advance Media.

After exceeding federal lead standards for three years from early 2017 to late 2019, Newark met federal lead standards in 2020. With lead levels under control and the federal lawsuit settled, the only remaining chapter in Newark’s water problems is the completion of replacing the senior service lines in its system.

Jordan said the NEW caucus is now focused on advocating for environmental justice, anti-racist education and protecting public health in Newark schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But she added that the group will not forget about drinking water.

“We’ll look very carefully, as will other advocates in the community,” said Jordan. “But we hope the city will continue to do exactly what it agreed to do.”

Read more about NJ.com’s coverage of New Jersey water issues here.

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Michael Sol Warren can be reached at [email protected].

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