Newark is close to meeting its goal of replacing every single lead pipe that pumps water into homes in New Jersey's largest city. So far, they've accomplished a record feat: replacing more than 22,000 lead service lines with copper pipes.
City officials say all known lead service lines—garden hose-sized pipes that connect underground water mains to homes—have been removed. In the next two weeks, construction crews will double-check to make sure service lines marked as replaced or “not lead” on city records are truly lead-free. They currently have another 1,000 pipes to double-check.
“Say the records say you don't have a lead service. Well, that homeowner, that resident, they're anxious,” said Newark’s Director of Water and Sewer Kareem Adeem. “It only takes us a minute to excavate and confirm and show them why we're not replacing their pipe.”
Adeem said the entire project will be complete by the end of the month, less than three years after the city broke ground on the project. The historic achievement comes years after the city’s water crisis exploded and drew comparisons to Flint, Michigan.
Now, Newark will finish replacing its lead pipes before Flint and is being hailed as a model—even by its harshest critics.
“They've quickly replaced thousands of lead service lines and done it in a timeframe that is much faster than most other places have even tried to do it,” said Erik Olson of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the group that sued Newark in 2018 over its elevated lead levels. The environmental group settled with the city earlier this year. NEW Caucus, made up of Newark educators, were also part of the lawsuit and were key in keeping the city accountable to its residents and educating the public about the dangers of lead.
Construction crews work on Gillette Place in Newark Sept. 30, 2021 to replace a lead service line with copper.
Lead is particularly harmful to pregnant moms and the development of children. While no amount of lead is safe, the federal government sets allowable levels in the drinking water that water utilities cannot exceed. More than 4,000 children a year are diagnosed with lead poisoning in New Jersey, mostly through the ingestion of lead paint.
Newark was initially slated to replace its lead service lines over 10 years but in 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated the city distribute bottled water to thousands of residents. As Newark made national headlines and the lead levels in the water continued to rise, Essex County officials stepped in, agreeing to bond $120 million on behalf of the city to expedite its lead replacement program. That debt will be offset by a lease agreement between the Port Authority and Newark.
Newark’s City Council also passed an ordinance that allowed construction crews to access lead services lines on private property without permission from the property owner, eliminating the need to chase down absentee landlords in a city where three-quarters of residents rent their homes.
The state also allowed Newark to use public money to fund work on private property. Lead service lines in Newark are privately-owned but the city is replacing the pipes free of charge.
“Where there is a political will and particularly where there is funding, it is possible to replace thousands of lead service lines very quickly and efficiently,” Olson said.
“You've got to sweep into the community, replace all the lead service lines, street by street, all at once. When you have the equipment and the staff there, it's much more efficient, it's much less expensive per household and you can get it done quickly. And that really is one of the key lessons of Newark.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law this year manding water utilities replace every single lead service line in the state over the next 10 years. The American Water Works Association estimates there are 350,000 lead service lines in the state, the fifth most in the country. The most current inventories provided by water systems to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection show there are at least 167,354 known pipes that need to be replaced. That’s about 14% of 1.2 million inventoried pipes.
But nearly 1.1 million are of unknown materials, about 85% of all pipes.
Adeem said Newark had a robust inventory that allowed the city to move quickly block by block. Newark also turned the program into a local hiring initiative. He said of the 600 jobs created, 250 were local hires and 85 were previously unemployed residents.
“We also had mom and pop businesses that were able to supply material...all types of things that contribute to the local economy,” he said.
State test results show Newark’s lead levels haven’t exceeded federal standards since early 2020. The city is also investing millions in improving the infrastructure at the Pequannock water treatment plant that pumps water to half the city, along with neighboring towns like Belleville, Bloomfield and Nutley.
For Newark resident Margarita Reyes, seeing the construction crews on her street and throughout the city has helped her regain trust that her water will be safe to drink again.
“I hope to God that we can drink it again,” she said as she waited for construction workers to check her service line.
