New Jersey officials said they’ve found lead components in more Newark residential water lines — the second batch of such discoveries after officials thought they’d completely eliminated lead lines from service to the city’s homes.
State Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said Wednesday that so far, inspectors have found lead components in 12 water service lines at residences that were supposed to have been replaced beginning in 2019. That follows the announcement in February that lead components had been found in lines leading to three homes up to that point.
It’s still unclear how widespread the remaining lead problem is. Officials said they’re continuing to investigate.
LaTourette said the 12 lines were found among 90 that were inspected, after narrowing down a pool of 1,300 homes for possible inspection. But he cautioned that because the excavations were targeted, they didn’t constitute a representative sample. He said it shouldn’t be inferred that 13% of Newark’s water lines potentially contain lead components, just because 13% of those tested did.
“What I want Newarkers to understand is that this information gives me comfort,” he said in a livestream to update residents Wednesday. “These remaining lead components in a few places is not a citywide risk.”
LaTourette said the audit contained some randomization, but it was largely targeted based on officials’ reviews of documents for the work of subcontractors.
“And then it’s informed further by our findings from physical inspections,” he said. “And where properties that may have some inconsistencies in their documentation, we’re flagging them for further review.”
More homes could still be inspected going forward, he said.
Some community leaders said there’s still not enough information coming from officials.
“There’s 300,000 people in the city of Newark, and you’re saying there’s a problem somewhere, but we can’t tell you where?” Anthony Diaz,…
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