Shades of Flint in N.J. as Water Filters Fail to Trap Lead

(Bloomberg) -- Newark, the New Jersey city at the forefront of an economic revival, is making bottled drinking water available to almost 15,000 homes after tap tests for lead showed that city-supplied filters may be ineffective.

Shawn LaTourette, chief of staff for the state environmental protection department, said 14,730 residences are potentially affected by contamination. The city earlier had said the water would go to 1,400 homes.

The state’s most-populous city has taken steps to limit lead exposure since January 2017, when it disclosed the presence of the element, which can cause organ damage. On Aug. 9 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said water from two homes had exceeded federal and state lead standards.

Flint, Michigan, a city where lead was detected in 2014, also tried filters. But in 2016, tests found the devices couldn’t capture lead in high quantities, according to Michigan environmental officials. Federal regulators say Flint’s water is safe after system upgrades, but Mayor Karen Weaver has said she’s not confident until more studies are conducted.

Newark, with a population of more than 280,000, weathered 1967 race riots that preceded decades of blight. In recent years, though, it’s stoked a rebirth on its New York proximity, drawing startups including Audible.com, the audiobook service later acquired by Amazon Inc., and AeroFarms, the vertical-farming company whose backers include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Newark’s former mayor, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, is running for president.

Free bottled water distribution started today.

“We’re erring on the side of caution,” Frank Baraff, a spokesman for Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, said by telephone. Of three homes tested last month, he said, two showed excessive lead. The faucets had not been used for several hours and samples were taken immediately after they were opened, Baraff said. Homeowners typically are told to run the water for several minutes first to clear lead from lines.

“The filters were tested under worst-case conditions,” Baraff said.

LaTourette said there was no indication that the filters were faulty, but their performance is under review.

Newark is among the defendants in a lawsuit, filed in 2018 by the Newark Education Workers Caucus and the Natural Resources Defense Council, alleging that the city was failing to protect residents from lead in water. In an Aug. 10 letter to U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, the city’s legal counsel said Newark is readying “a protocol for a much more robust study of the effectiveness of filters.”

In a joint statement on Aug. 11, Baraka and Governor Phil Murphy said the city and state “will need support and assistance from the federal government if bottled water is to be provided and distributed to impacted residents.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Elise Young in Trenton at eyoung30@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, William Selway, Stacie Sherman

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