A Slow Drip in Trenton

It’s been more than a year since the administration of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced a $1 billion plan to update, restore and rebuild the water infrastructure throughout the Garden State–with a focus on the city of Trenton –however, substantial and notable progress in the bold initiative seems to be more of a trickle than a stream.

Following calls from residents for more transparency, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) recently announced it would launch an interactive dashboard that will provide regular updates and information for Trentonians and others regarding the state’s water woes. In a press release, Shawn LaTourette, Commissioner of the NJDEP said, “This dashboard is an important part of the DEP’s efforts to raise public awareness about the state’s water infrastructure funding needs. New Jersey’s water infrastructure needs are great.”

In January 2022, the NJDEP announced the Water Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP)–a five-year comprehensive plan to resolve the ongoing problem of unsafe drinking water that included excessive levels of lead and other hazardous chemicals throughout the state–with a focus on the city of Trenton. At the time, the governor issued a statement that read in part, “This Water Infrastructure Plan reaffirms our commitment to modernize New Jersey’s aging water infrastructure and deliver safer drinking water to our residents.” Murphy lauded the word of President Joe Biden and legislators for ensuring that the state receives the funds.

The issue of safe, accessible, and clean drinking water has been under the national spotlight since the Flint (MI) water crisis in 2014. Thousands of residents in the impoverished city were subjected to lead-based and contaminated drinking water due to cost-cutting and illicit measures by high-ranking state politicos. And last year, officials in the predominately Black city of Jackson, MS, were accused of doing nothing regarding the city’s outdated and antiquated water system. As a result, residents were forced to drink, cook and shower with discolored and toxic water.

In New Jersey, at one time, according to statistics and information from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a New York-based environmental think tank ranked the cities of Newark, Paterson, and Trenton as having the worst and most unsafe drinking water in the state. The NRDC filed a lawsuit against the city of Newark in 2018, highlighting the high levels of lead contamination in the water. Following the negative publicity and lawsuit, the city has implemented upscale and more proficient water treatment systems, and lead levels have remained stable.

However, drinking a glass of safe and clean tap water in Trenton was and still is, according to some Trentonians, unnerving. For example, residents and officials repeatedly criticize Trenton Water Works (TWW), one of the country’s largest urban water utilities and water service providers in and around Trenton, for failing to provide safe drinking water. Additionally, the lack of financial resources, non-compliant regulatory issues, and massively incompetent workers continue to plague TWW. The agency had also issued several boil water orders in recent months–weeks before the NJDEP announced the administrative edict to monitor and address the state’s water woes.

One resident posted, “Trenton Water Works is terrible. No one ever contacted us about contaminated water or that it is now “safe” to drink.” And Trenton resident Dante Cisterna said, “{TWW} is the worst company ever. Water has legionella bacteria and turbidity issues. Worse than Flint (MI) water.” 

In a previous interview, Democratic Trenton mayor Reed Gusciora blamed the city’s water system problems on years of neglect, financial mismanagement, and a previously divided and contemptible City Council. According to regulatory documents filed last year, DEP officials blasted the previous Council for failing to approve infrastructure projects to address and upgrade Trenton’s water worries.

The DEP/Trenton Water Works website to view the community sessions and webinars to track the progress of the WIIP initiative and drinking water quality is https://www.nj.gov/dep/dwq/

NJ Urban News Managing Editor Glenn Townes was awarded a reporting fellowship from the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources (IJNR) and covered environmental issues, including the Flint, Michigan water crisis.