Newark’s Lead Water Crisis Has ‘Effectively Ended:’ Mayor

NEWARK, NJ — Make it three in a row, Newark officials say.

On Thursday, Mayor Ras Baraka announced that the average lead levels in Newark water have fallen “well below the federal benchmark for acceptable levels” for the third straight reporting period.

It’s a major landmark for Newark, which began to emerge from a widespread lead water crisis just before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Read More: Newark Turns Page On Lead Water Woes

At one point, the lead levels in Newark's drinking water had risen to 47 parts per billion at some sites – more than three times the federal threshold.

Newark eventually identified two sources of the contamination: lead-lined pipes leading to thousands of local homes, and the way the city treated its water, which allowed excess corrosion to take place in the aging pipes.

The city rolled out a new method of treating its water, which is also sold to several nearby towns and cities in Essex County. It also began a massive, $134 million campaign to replace tens of thousands of lead service pipes throughout the city, many of them privately owned. Normally the work can cost thousands of dollars, but Newark offered it at no cost for residents through the municipal replacement program.

There were no tax increases or water rate hikes as a result, city officials say.

The latest report has more good news, Baraka said Thursday. According to a news release from his office:

“The new preliminary averages are below 7 parts per billion, more than 8 ppb below the federal EPA acceptable level of 15 ppb and will be reported to the state DEP by Newark’s chief chemist Selene Samuel by July 10. These newly reported levels, confirmed by engineering firm CDM Smith, put Newark in compliance with EPA standards for 18 straight months, in which lead levels have continued to fall.”

In the meantime, the city has replaced more than 20,352 lead service lines as it nears completion of the project, which broke ground in mid-March of 2019. City officials estimate that full lead line replacement will be completed later this year.

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Kareem Adeem, Newark’s water and sewer utilities director, said the latest lead results were taken from homes where the lead lines had not yet been replaced, proving the corrosion control system is working, tamping down lead in fixtures and soldering in the home.

“It’s important that residents continue to have us test their water, so we can identify problems in the home,” Adeem said.

According to Baraka, with this latest report of lead traces falling below federal levels, the city has "effectively ended" the legal action brought against Newark and state DEP by the National Resources Defense Council and the Newark Education Workers Caucus in June of 2018. Under the settlement agreement of last December, the agreement expires on June 30 if the city continued to show trace lead levels below federal standards.

Most of the other conditions of the settlement were met before the settlement was signed, including the massive lead line replacement project, distribution of filters and education on their use, and testing for lead in homes, which the city has done at no cost to residents for decades, the mayor said.

• See related article: Newark Isn't Only NJ City At Risk Of Lead Water, Map Shows
• See related article: Big Milestone For Newark's Lead Water Crisis As City Fights Virus

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