Former Water Commission Official Admits to Falsifying Test Results

A former top official with the East Orange Water Commission pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to manipulate test results to falsely report lower levels of contamination in local drinking water, the Attorney General’s Office said.

William Mowell, 52, of Wyckoff, pleaded guilty in Essex County Superior Court to second-degree conspiracy. Mowell is the former assistant executive director and engineer for the EOWC, which serves East Orange and South Orange.

Mowell was indicted on Feb. 12, 2013, along with the now-deceased Harry L. Mansmann, the former executive director of the EOWC. Mowell pleaded guilty to a charge that he conspired to engage in a pattern of official misconduct, tamper with public records, and violate both the New Jersey Safe Drinking Water Act and the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend Mowell be sentenced to three years in state prison. Mowell’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7.

Mowell admitted he conspired with Mansmann to falsify mandatory testing of the EOWC’s water supply to hide elevated levels of the contaminant tetrachlorethene (PERC), an industrial solvent used for dry cleaning and other purposes that is classified as a probable carcinogen.

“Mowell had a duty to ensure the quality and safety of the drinking water supplied to tens of thousands of residents, and instead he deliberately falsified test results to cover up elevated levels of a potential carcinogen,” Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said. “He showed a complete disregard for the people he served and the harm that might have resulted from his conduct.”

The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice, which began with a referral from the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Compliance & Enforcement Program.

“Mowell should have used his expertise to act as an environmental watchdog, protecting the water supply and alerting the DEP and the public of problems,” Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice said. “However, he chose to use his knowledge and skills to cover up a significant contamination issue. Prison is the right punishment for this type of environmental crime.”

The EOWC supplies drinking water to East Orange and also has a contract to supply drinking water to South Orange. The water is pumped from well fields in eastern Morris and western Essex counties through a pumping station in Millburn to two reservoirs, from which water is distributed to customers. The utility blends water from its various wells at its treatment plant before water is distributed to customers. The EOWC had encountered problems with elevated levels of PERC in several wells.

In pleading guilty, Mowell admitted that he took water samples for testing after the contaminated wells had been turned off for several days. He admitted he knew that meant that the test results would not accurately reflect the water supply once those wells were turned back on for pumping to the reservoir. He falsified test results in March and April 2011 to comply with the DEP requirements.

The state’s investigation also revealed the defendants, in an effort to flush out PERC, directed the well with the most contamination, which had been found to have PERC levels as high as 25 times the permitted level under the New Jersey Safe Drinking Water Act and nearly twice the level permitted for discharges in connection with remediation projects under the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act, be pumped to a pipe that discharged directly onto the bank of the Passaic River in Florham Park from March 24 through April 20, 2011. In pleading guilty, Mowell admitted that he and Mansmann had water from that well pumped to the bank of the river during that period.

Mowell further admitted that when the DEP required the EOWC to issue a public notice about non-compliant PERC levels in the system, he and Mansmann issued a notice in July 2011 falsely stating that the EOWC had reduced pumping from certain wells on an ongoing basis and, as a result, tests during the first half of 2011 revealed levels under the DEP limit.

By making it appear that the water system was in compliance with regulations, Mowell and Mansmann sought to enable the EOWC to avoid the need to build an expensive “air stripper” water purification plant to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including PERC, from the system’s water supply. The EOWC currently is proceeding with plans to build such a treatment plant.

The DEP has done independent testing of the East Orange water system, showing the water quality for residents of East Orange and South Orange to be safe.

“We have a high standard of accountability in this state when it comes to the safety and reliability of drinking water,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin. “It is imperative that water providers maintain and provide to us accurate records of water system operations. Any deviation from those standards is a violation of the public trust.”