Date | 2016[1] – present |
---|---|
Location | Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
Coordinates | 40°43′N74°10′W / 40.72°N 74.17°W |
Type | Water pollution Lead contamination |
The Newark, New Jersey water crisis began in 2016 when elevated lead levels were observed in multiple Newark Public Schools district schools throughout the city. [2]
Multiple water studies were conducted by both federal agencies, such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and non-profit groups. [3] The lead levels exceeded the limit of 15 parts per billion set by the Safe Drinking Water Act. [4] As a result, the EPA ordered the City of Newark to provide bottled water and filters to affected customers. [5] As of January 2020, more than 200,000 residents were affected by the elevated levels of lead. [6]
In October 2024, officials announced that the company hired to replace the lead service lines at 1,500 properties lied and falsified reports while not conducting the work they were hired to do. [7] [8]
Much of the drinking water in Newark, and Northern New Jersey in general, comes from reservoirs. [9] Drinking water then is processed through water treatment plants to the final destinations throughout the region. [10] The water pipes that connect the main pipes to homes and businesses were lined with lead along with other chemicals. [11] The water destroyed the lead-lined pipes, causing the lead to leak into the water supply. [12]
The management of the city's water safety plan is under the jurisdiction of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation (NWCDC), [13] under the direction of a board appointed by the mayor of Newark. [14] The New Jersey State Comptroller released a report in 2014 detailing widespread corruption throughout the agency. [15] In early 2016, multiple agency officials were arrested and charged with stealing money and accepting bribes. [16]
In 2019, it was reported that in 2016 city officials in Newark were informed that the chemical, sodium silicate, that they added twenty years ago to prevent corrosion and the leaching of lead from service line pipes into the water had stopped working. Based on public records, in 2015, the city had increased the acidity of the water to lower possible carcinogens in the supply. As a result, the acidity lessened the benefit of the sodium silicate. Water testing by the city showed elevated levels of lead at roughly half of the schools in Newark. City and state officials blamed poor internal plumbing and maintenance as the cause. Beginning in 2017, the State of New Jersey mandated some cities test their water twice a year for contaminants and carcinogens instead of once every three years. The first round of results from Newark showed elevated levels of lead in July 2017. Mayor Ras Baraka later stated that extensive testing had begun as required by state law but claimed the city did not know how widespread the issue was so there was no need to take further action.
In January 2018, results from a second consecutive test showed continued elevated levels of lead from Newark. Mayor Baraka continued to dismiss the warnings and had the city tell residents that the lead issue was only in older homes in the city's annual water quality mailing. Comparisons to the Flint water crisis were rejected by the Mayor and called those comparisons "absolutely and outrageously false statements" via a message on the city's website that was later deleted. In December 2018, in order to combat the negative publicity of the lead contamination, Newark hired Mercury Public Affairs, the same public relations firms that the former Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, hired during the water crisis in Flint, for $225,000.00.
Records show that the mismanagement and corruption at the NWCDC occurred around the same time that the water's acidity levels started increasing which accelerated the corrosion of pipes that caused lead to leach into the water. Additionally, city officials later admitted that some records of water tests were "lost" during the period of corruption at the NWCDC. [17]
Lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and even death. No safe blood lead level has been identified. [18] Pregnant women and children are most at risk. Lead exposure has been on the rise in New Jersey, especially in children. The highest numbers come from Newark in 2017, where 281 children between six months old and 26 months old tested in the city showed high lead levels in their blood. [19]
Newark addresses the issue of elevated blood lead levels in children through several means, has been allotted and continues to seek grants from governmental and non-governmental sources. In the past decade, Newark has established and locally administers the State's only Lead-Safe Houses. The Lead-Safe Houses are used to relocate residents who have a child with an Elevated blood lead level (10 μg/dL or greater) when the family has no other temporary lead-safe housing alternatives. [20]
State and federal environment officials said that lead levels in multiple Newark Public Schools buildings were higher than the federal limit in March 2016. [21] The trade union representing Newark public school teachers and the New Jersey Sierra Club said that the school leadership knew of the lead problem in the drinking water. [22]
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection mandated cities and towns to test the water supply twice a year. [23] A report published by the City of Newark stated the city violated the EPA's limit of lead levels in the drinking water. [24]
In February 2018, engineering company CDM Smith said in an email to the City of Newark stated their prevention of lead pipes dissolving into the water system "has not been effective". [25] Subsequently, Newark distributed Pur water filters to affective residents. [26] During the height of the water crisis, Newark residents were able to receive 2 cases of 24 water bottles with proof of their address. [27]
In May 2019, the city added orthophosphate to help at prevent lead leaching. The chemical would take roughly six months to be effective. In August 2019, the city government received $120 million in funds to replace lead drinking water pipes throughout the city. [28]
According to new tests conducted by the state of New Jersey, lead levels have dropped. [29] [30]
By August 2021, almost all of the lead water pipes in Newark had been replaced with copper ones, solving much of the water crisis problem. Mayor Ras Baraka continues to encourage Newark residents to trust the city and get their water tested, since it is free, to keep the water crisis from occurring again. [31]
In February 2024, officials announced that they found three properties with faulty service line replacements by a then un-named third party. The city had those lines replaced same day. [32] In October 2024, it was announced that the company hired to replace a portion of the city's lead service lines, JAS Group Enterprise, Inc., lied and never performed the replacement work at 1,500 sites. [7]
Several news outlets, including The New York Times , compared the water crisis to the one in Flint, Michigan. [23] The Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Newark city government in 2018, saying the city has violated federal and state regulations regarding lead levels in drinking water. [33] Mayor of Newark wrote a letter to the President of the United States Donald Trump, asking for federal assistance and funds to help repair and rebuild the water infrastructure. [34]
Introduced in September 2019, the Water Infrastructure Funding Transfer Act was passed by the United States Senate. [35] It was sponsored by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. [36] The law allows the transfer of funds from the federal water fund to states. [37] It was signed into law on September 27, 2019. [38]
In March 2019, Newark announced the Lead Service Line Replacement Program, which aimed to remove all 18,000 lead pipes throughout the water system. [39] [40] More than 38,000 water filters were distributed to city residents, [41] in addition to bottled water. [42] A November 2019 report released by the Newark city government said that "97.5% of the filters reduced lead to 10 parts-per-billion (ppb) or below." [43]
On February 7, 2024, officials announced that while inspecting four properties between January 1 and February 1, they found three properties with faulty service line replacements that were only partially replaced by a then un-named third party. The city had those lines replaced same day. As a result Newark and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced that they were going to audit all the lead line replacements in the entire city over several weeks. Notices of the discovery were mailed to approximately 180,000 households. [32]
On October 3, 2024, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger, announced that the company contracted to replace a portion of the lead service lines in Newark, JAS Group Enterprise, Inc. lied and falsified reports while not conducting the work they were hired to do at 1,500 Newark properties. The company had received more than $10 million for the work. From 2020 to 2022, the company falsified reports by submitting photographs to inspectors of copper pipes and claimed that they were the new replacement pipes they had installed. Some photographs were either intentionally blurry and others showed lead pipes partially obscured with dirt. The company "deliberately instructed workers to leave lead pipes in the ground" and where copper pipes already existed, workers were allegedly instructed to polish and clean them to make them look like newly installed replacement lines. One witness claims that this practice took place at hundreds of sites at the direction of a foreperson. Mayor Baraka claimed the health of Newark residents isn't in danger due to the orthophosphate that was added to the water to prevent lead leaching and that it is working as intended. City officials stated that they excavated 400 sites where the company claimed to have performed work and 28 of those sites still had lead pipes. The EPA stated that any lead pipes that were discovered have been replaced. [7]
Newark is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 311,549. The Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 304,960 for 2023, making it the 66th-most populous municipality in the nation.
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for human consumption, but water purification may also be carried out for a variety of other purposes, including medical, pharmacological, chemical, and industrial applications. The history of water purification includes a wide variety of methods. The methods used include physical processes such as filtration, sedimentation, and distillation; biological processes such as slow sand filters or biologically active carbon; chemical processes such as flocculation and chlorination; and the use of electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light.
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is a weekly epidemiological digest for the United States published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was originally established as Weekly Health Index in 1930, changing its title to Weekly Mortality Index in 1941 and Morbidity and Mortality in 1952. It acquired its current name in 1976. It is the main vehicle for publishing public health information and recommendations that have been received by the CDC from state health departments. Material published in the report is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission. As of 2019, the journal's editor-in-chief is Charlotte Kent.
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the primary federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for drinking water quality and oversee all states, localities, and water suppliers that implement the standards.
Kenneth Allen Gibson was an American politician of the Democratic Party who was the 36th mayor of Newark, New Jersey from 1970 to 1986. He was the first African American mayor of a major city in the Northeastern United States.
The Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) is a United States federal regulation that limits the concentration of lead and copper allowed in public drinking water at the consumer's tap, as well as limiting the permissible amount of pipe corrosion occurring due to the water itself. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first issued the rule in 1991 pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The EPA promulgated the regulations following studies that concluded that copper and lead have an adverse effect on individuals. The LCR limits the levels of these metals in water through improving water treatment centers, determining copper and lead levels for customers who use lead plumbing parts, and eliminating the water source as a source of lead and copper. If the lead and copper levels exceed the "action levels", water suppliers are required to educate their consumers on how to reduce exposure to lead. In a 2005 report EPA stated that the LCR requirements had been effective in 96 percent of systems serving at least 3,300 people.
In the United States, public drinking water is governed by the laws and regulations enacted by the federal and state governments. Certain ordinances may also be created at a more local level. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the principal federal law. The SDWA authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create and enforce regulations to achieve the SDWA goals.
Established in April 1857, the Newark Police Department (NPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving Newark, New Jersey and the largest municipal law enforcement agency in New Jersey. As of December 2017 the force had 1,146 officers.
Drinking water quality in the United States is generally safe. In 2016, over 90 percent of the nation's community water systems were in compliance with all published U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. Over 286 million Americans get their tap water from a community water system. Eight percent of the community water systems—large municipal water systems—provide water to 82 percent of the US population. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires the US EPA to set standards for drinking water quality in public water systems. Enforcement of the standards is mostly carried out by state health agencies. States may set standards that are more stringent than the federal standards.
While performing research into premature pipe corrosion for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) in 2001, Marc Edwards, an expert in plumbing corrosion, discovered lead levels in the drinking water of Washington, D.C., at least 83 times higher than the accepted safe limit. He found that the decision to change from chlorine to chloramine as a treatment chemical had caused the spike in lead levels. The contamination has left thousands of children with lifelong health risks and led to a re-evaluation of the use of monochloramine in public drinking-water systems.
Marc Edwards is a civil engineering/environmental engineer and the Charles Edward Via Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. An expert on water treatment and corrosion, Edwards's research on elevated lead levels in Washington, DC's municipal water supply gained national attention, changed the city's recommendations on water use in homes with lead service pipes, and caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to admit to publishing a report so rife with errors that a congressional investigation called it "scientifically indefensible." He is considered one of the world's leading experts in water corrosion in home plumbing, and a nationally recognized expert on copper corrosion. He is also one of the whistleblowers in the Flint water crisis, along with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha.
Ras Jua Baraka is an American educator, author, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Baraka is the 40th and current mayor of Newark, New Jersey. First elected in the 2014 election, he was sworn into office on May 13, 2014, and was reelected in 2018 and 2022.
Luis A. Quintana is an American politician who served as Councilmember-at-Large of the Municipal Council of Newark, New Jersey, first elected in 1994. He served as Mayor of Newark from November 2013 to July 2014, after which he was re-elected to his council seat.
The 2014 Newark mayoral election took place in Newark, the most populous city in New Jersey, on May 13, 2014. The race was characterized as a contest between two candidates, Ras Baraka and Shavar Jeffries, both from Newark's South Ward. Elections for all seats on the nine member Municipal Council of Newark also took place. Luis A. Quintana, who had become Mayor of Newark following the resignation of Cory Booker, did not seek the seat.
Samples of potable water in Hong Kong were found to contain excessive levels of heavy metals including lead, nickel and cadmium in 2015. Such discoveries of contamination caused widespread crisis within the city.
The Flint water crisis was a public health crisis that started in 2014 after the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan, was contaminated with lead and possibly Legionella bacteria. In April 2014, during a financial crisis, state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley changed Flint's water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. Residents complained about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water, which resulted in lead from aging pipes leaching into the water supply, exposing around 100,000 residents to elevated lead levels. A pair of scientific studies confirmed that lead contamination was present in the water supply. The city switched back to the Detroit water system on October 16, 2015. It later signed a 30-year contract with the new Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) on November 22, 2017.
Lead abatement is an activity to reduce levels of lead, particularly in the home environment, generally to permanently eliminate lead-based paint hazards, in order to reduce or eliminate incidents of lead poisoning.
Water contamination in Lawrence and Morgan Counties, Alabama, revolves around the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in the water supply. After the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new health advisories in March 2016, there was concern over health risks of the levels of PFOA and PFOS present. The responses of different government officials, agencies, and companies raise questions as to whether or not there was any environmental injustice involved.
The Pittsburgh water crisis arose from a substantial increase in the lead concentration of the city's water supply. Although catalyzed by the hiring of cost-cutting water consultancy Veolia in 2012, and an unauthorized change of anti-erosion chemicals in 2014, this spike in lead concentration has roots in decades of lead pipe erosion. Since the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) first failed its water quality test in 2016, it has exceeded the federal lead threshold of 15 ppb by almost 1.5 times. This level of lead contamination poses serious health risks to residents, particularly children and pregnant women. In an attempt to remedy the situation, the PWSA has begun removing lead pipes from the city's water lines and has decided to introduce orthophosphate to the water supply.
A lead service line is a pipe made of lead which is used in potable water distribution to connect a water main to a user's premises.