Environmental group says Perth Amboy Councilman is all wet

One of the nation's leading environmental organizations is calling out a local politician who cast aspersions on a database that is considered the most comprehensive and authoritative report on America’s drinking water

Perth Amboy Councilman Jelmin J. Caba, one of five mayoral candidates and also the city’s Democratic Party chairman, accused critics of "trying to frighten voters with ‘fake news’ about water contamination,” after another contender cited to a report from the Environmental Working Group that said there are at least 25 cancer causing contaminants in the city’s drinking water.

Chris Campbell, EWG’s vice president for information technology and the chief architect of the Tap Water database, disputed Caba’s characterization of the information as “fake news,” a term popularized by Republican President Donald Trump.

“EWG’s national tap water database is the most comprehensive and authoritative summary of what is found in America’s drinking water,” said Campbell.

“It aggregates data from more than 50,000 water utilities nationwide and measures the levels of contaminants found against the best, most up-to-date science on the pollutants’ health effects,” said Campbell. “This free, user-friendly database has become the go-to guide for consumers and an influential tool for researchers and the news media.”

The environmental organization’s findings were cited in a mailing by attorney Joseph B. Vas, who views Caba's attack as a desperate attempt to gain traction in a crowded contest for mayor.

Widely viewed as a two-way race between Mayor Wilda Diaz and attorney Joseph B. Vas, the contest is expected to have far-reaching consequences for the city's future.

Vas has been referring to his opponents collectively as "the Diaz Team" and polling shows weak recognition for Caba and the two other council members who are seeking the top job after supporting and being supported by the incumbent, Joel Pabon and Fernando Irizarry.

EWG’s drinking water quality report shows results of tests conducted by the water utility and provided to the Environmental Working Group by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, as well as information from the U.S. EPA Enforcement and Compliance History database (ECHO).

Although tap water provided by the municipal utility was in compliance with federal drinking water standards, there were 25 contaminants found and 13 of them exceeded standards advocated by EWG.

“Legal does not necessarily equal safe. Getting a passing grade from the federal government does not mean the water meets the latest health guidelines,” said Science Analyst Sydney Evans, an EWG spokesperson.

“Legal limits for contaminants in tap water have not been updated in almost 20 years,” said Evans. “The best way to ensure clean tap water is to keep pollution out of source water in the first place.”

Perth Amboy Water Department has generally in compliance with legally mandated federal standards but according to the Environmental Working Group, that drinking water is contaminated with arsenic, chloroform, chromium, radium, TTHMs, and 20 other cancer-causing chemicals.

Microplastics have also been found in municipal tap water and there is no ‘safe’ level of lead, high levels of which was found in the city’s drinking water as recently as 2017.

“The federal government’s legal limits are not adequate to protect health,” said Evans. “The EPA has not set a new tap water standard in almost 20 years, and some standards are more than 40 years old.”

“Right now, water contaminants are assessed and regulated one at a time, but mixtures of a large number of contaminants are present in tap water,” said the Science Analyst. “This cumulative risk assessment will help to estimate how mixtures of chemicals might affect health, so that community water systems and elected officials can look for new approaches to better protect water quality.”

“Arsenic is a potent carcinogen that causes thousands of cases of cancer each year in the U.S. even though it is a common contaminant in drinking water,” said the EWG spokesperson. “Arsenic was found in Perth Amboy’s water supply was 71 times above EWG’s health guideline of 0.004 ppb even though the 0.285 ppb arsenic was well below the EPA allowed limit.”

The EWG Health Guideline of 0.004 ppb for arsenic was defined by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as a public health goal signifying the level of a drinking water contaminant that does not pose a significant health risk. This health guideline protects against cancer.

Bromodichloromethane, one of the total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), which were found in excess of EPA standards last year, prompting some residents to initiate a recall effort against the mayor.

Federal officials fined the city in 2012, after Perth Amboy violated the Clean Water Act by failing to properly maintain and operate its sewer system, which allowed almost 370 million gallons of untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials and debris to flow into the Raritan River and Arthur Kill each year.

Although the city agreed to make major sewer improvements to protect people’s health and water quality under a legal agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal Department of Justice, those system upgrades have not been completed.

Among the toxins found in Perth Amboy drinking water are Arsenic, Bromodichloromethane, Bromoform, Chloroform, Chromium (Hexavalent), Dibromoacetic Acid, Dibromochloromethane, Dichloroacetic Acid, Haloacetic Acids (HAA5), Nitrate, Radium, Total Trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Trichloroacetic Acid, 1,4-Dioxane, Aluminum, Barium, Beryllium, Chlorate, Cobalt, Fluoride, Monobromoacetic Acid, Monochloroacetic Acid, Selenium, Strontium and Thallium.

“It’s important for people to realize that legal doesn’t necessarily mean safe. People tend to take the safety of their tap water for granted because it’s being monitored, tested, and treated. But there’s a big discrepancy between what’s legal and what science says is safe,” said Evans.

Caba and the other 'Diaz Team' councilmen have been silent on the city’s water pollution problem as well as the ongoing discharge of raw sewage into the Raritan River and Arthur Kill.

Mayor Wilda Diaz recently failed to meet a June 1 deadline for informing the state Department of Environmental Protection how the city will prevent continued sewage discharges, caused by a flaw in the system for channeling human waste and storm water.

Despite fines imposed on taxpayers and multiple state and federal stop orders, the Diaz administration is accused of dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into the waterways each year.