With more Newark schools found last week to have elevated lead levels in their water, a top state environmental official said the process of identifying and remediating the problem not just in Newark but statewide is sure to be a lengthy one… “The notion of tearing a building apart to replace lead lines, you’re talking about enormous expense,” said Daniel Van Abs, an associate research professor at Rutgers’ School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. “I don’t know how much, but I do know that this state has a tendency of robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
OPINION: WHEN WATER UTILITIES ARE SOLD, THE CUSTOMERS SHOULD BENEFIT
The debate is joined. Should municipality X sell its water system to another entity, and thus reap the benefits of that sale for its taxpayers? Or should the municipality sign an operations contract with another entity, with an upfront payment to the m…
STATE’S POOR URBAN CHILDREN MOST AT RISK FROM LEAD IN WATER, ADVOCATES TESTIFY
The state needs to step up its efforts to reduce childhood lead poisoning, including exposure to lead in water, a problem that falls disproportionately on the urban poor, advocates said yesterday… Older service lines that bring water from the curb to…
Opinion: Flint Is a Wake-Up Call for New Jersey and for the Nation
New Jersey communities are not experiencing Flint’s dire public-health crisis. However, while our water systems are better managed and regulated, they share many of the same underlying issues, and are crying out for action… As Rutgers Professor Daniel J. Van Abs wrote in Ripple Effects, “In most cases, lead does not come from the treatment plant or distribution system itself, but rather from customer service pipes and plumbing.”
Tests on Fish Raise New Concerns About Estrogen Levels in Drinking Water
Fresh evidence that some New Jersey waterways are being contaminated by estrogens from water-treatment plants and agricultural sources has prompted calls for curbs on development of environmentally sensitive areas and for more research into an issue th…
Opinion: Let Flint Strike Sparks to Address Water-Supply Problems in NJ
Flint is a failure of responsibility, ethics, and morality. Can the unacceptable happen to our water-supply systems? Let’s start with the fundamentals about the water-supply debacle in Flint, MI, where water customers have been exposed to completely un…
Opinion: Thinking Smaller for more Effective Flood Protection
New Jersey was fortunate in 2015 in experiencing no major floods. We have a long history of devastating floods, going back to the 1800s when our total population was less than 1 million people. Major river floods come with depressing regularity, includ…
NEW ONLINE TOOL GAUGES LOCAL, STATEWIDE THREATS FROM RISE IN SEA LEVEL
A new online tool to help assess New Jersey’s vulnerability to sea-level rise was released on Thursday, one that delivers both a micro and a macro level of information to homeowners, planners, local and state officials, first responders, and a host of …
