I hope you won't mind if we talk about water again, because it's something of interest here in the shebeen, and not just because it's how we make the whiskey last longer, either. We now learn that Newark is our latest Flint. And the Natural Resources Defense Council is on the case. Once again, it's about antiquated pipes, and crumbling infrastructure, and a local government that would rather not tell anybody the truth about how they all may be getting poisoned.
The levels of lead in Newark, New Jersey’s drinking water are some of the highest recently recorded by a large water system in the United States. And we know the cause: City and state officials are violating the Safe Drinking Water Act in several ways, such as failing to treat its water to prevent lead from flaking off from pipes into residents’ drinking water and neglecting to notify people about the elevated levels and the health risks...The high lead levels are especially alarming because there has been long-standing concern about children’s exposure to toxic lead levels in Newark. For years, the city has had the greatest number of lead-poisoned children in New Jersey. This likely stems from a variety of exposures to lead, including from contaminated tap water and other sources. Indeed, 2016 tests revealed 30 public schools with elevated water lead levels.
(And, before someone mentions it, yes, I am aware that Cory Booker once was mayor of Newark and that he still lives there and that people are going to ask him about this while he runs for president. And that's all I have to say about that at the moment. This is way beyond any political calculation.)
Newark officials have tried to exclusively blame old infrastructure for the drinking water crisis in public statements and on the city’s official website since at least April 2018. But records show the city’s own consultant, CDM Smith, informed officials in February 2018 that the water treatment performed by the city at one of Newark’s two treatment plants was not effective, causing widespread corrosion of lead pipes and plumbing through many parts of Newark. The city’s failure to control corrosion, a process that, when done correctly, should prevent lead from flaking into tap water, is central to the crisis of lead in Newark’s drinking water...After reporting lead levels reaching a 17-year high at the end of 2018, city officials must act to bring Newark’s water system into compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Until its tap water is safe to drink, the city must respond to the immediate threat of harm to residents by providing an alternative water supply and a robust public education program.
And, as was the case in Flint, the response to the crisis was ass-over-teakettle frantic. From The New York Times:
State and local officials said they were making free water available to 15,000 of the city’s 95,000 households, and hundreds of people waited in long lines in the summer heat to pick up cases of water. But officials had to halt the distribution temporarily after discovering that some of the water exceeded its best-by date...Newark had long denied that the city had a widespread problem with its drinking water, only to reverse course last fall and give away tens of thousands of water filters. But recent tests have shown that the filters were not properly removing lead...Standing in long lines, residents expressed anger and fear over how wide-reaching the problem really was. Many said their anxiety over the water adds to the challenges the city already faces — from poverty to drugs. “We’re ducking bullets, were ducking and dodging bullets every day,’’ said Nafessah Venable as she stood outside a recreation center with her young son. “We can’t even take our kids out to play. Now we’ve got to worry about water? Water is a necessity for life. How can we survive without clean water? It’s tragic, and it’s very mind-boggling to wonder what the future holds in terms of the water system.”
Somebody really should think about doing something about this. Somebody, perhaps, with an interest in government?
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Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.
