NORTHERN VALLEY AREA, N.J.—Municipal officials in two Northern Valley towns offered widely differing views of Suez North America’s efforts to inform the public about lead in drinking water and efforts to replace lead service lines at two public meetings last week.
On Aug. 19 in Tenafly and Aug. 20 in Englewood, officials offered conflicting—and at times incomplete accounts—of what lead line replacement work Suez was performing or planning to undertake locally, and in both communities officials ended up pointing to Suez’s commitment to inform residents in advance of lead line replacement work and hold public forums to answer residents’ questions.
In both towns, municipal professionals or officials referenced Newark’s ongoing struggles with lead in drinking water and officials took pains to point out that situation—where federal officials ordered distribution of bottled water to residents in certain city areas—does not apply to either Tenafly or Englewood.
Englewood’s concerns
City Engineer Frantz Volcy, of T&M Associates, said that he will serve as the city’s “point person” in coordinating the utility’s street excavation and replacement work and will provide Suez with a list of city streets scheduled for milling and paving this year.
With this list, Suez officials will be able to schedule work without affecting streets repaved by the city, Volcy said.
“There will be a lot of patchwork in the roads,” said Volcy, who said Suez’s efforts in Englewood will be a “multi-year process and it’s going to take a long time” for pipe replacements.
“Based on what’s going on in Newark now, it’s not a minute too soon,” said Volcy of Suez’s pipe replacement work.
Volcy said Suez told him that before they do any local lead pipe replacement work, residents will receive notification.
Suez ‘more than willing’
Volcy said that Suez was “more than willing” to hold a public forum so residents could find out more about their efforts and provide information about lead in drinking water.
He stressed Suez was responsible for replacing lead lines from the street water main to curb, but customers are responsible for replacing a lead line from the curb to a home or business.
City Health Director James Fedorko said if homeowners have concerns about lead in their drinking water, they should have their drinking water tested.
If a Suez service line is lead, the utility will pay for water testing for a homeowner, said Fedorko. He suggested homeowners worried about lead get in touch with Suez to find out if Suez’s service line is lead leading into their residence.
Suez lead contacts
Suez customers can find out if they are served by a lead service line by checking online at mysuezwater.com/njwq, visiting suezwq.com, or contacting customer service at (800) 422-5987 or sueznjcustserv@suez-na.com.
Suez officials stress the water that leaves its treatment plant in Haworth is lead-free but may become contaminated by a lead service line or by indoor plumbing or solder used on plumbing.
If lead service lines exist or lead is present, Suez officials recommend running the tap on cold for one to two minutes before using the water for drinking or cooking.
Also, don’t use hot water for drinking or cooking, especially when making baby formula or preparing food for infants, they advise.
Wildes and Councilman Wayne Hamer discussed getting out additional information to residents concerned about lead. Wildes said social media should be used and Hamer said information should be on the city’s website.
‘We need to help them’
“Obviously, the news reports we see every day coming out of Newark are real. If it affects people here we need to help them through whatever it is that needs to get done,” Hamer said. He noted many older city properties may have lead pipes and solder.
Suez officials have noted that most properties with lead service lines—whether utility or customer owned—do not have elevated levels of lead in their drinking water.
In fact, said Suez spokeswoman Debra Vial, most homeowners and businesses with lead service lines who were tested by Suez did not have elevated lead levels in drinking water.
Every six months, the utility is required to sample over 100 homes and businesses who have lead service lines to test for elevated levels of lead.
The January-June 2019 test results generally showed compliance with the federal standard, Suez said, although several detected lead levels near or slightly above the 15 parts per billion standard in drinking water
That level was exceeded in 15 of 108 Bergen and Hudson county homes with lead service lines tested from June to December 2018 by Suez.
According to several government agencies and major health organizations, there is no safe level of lead in drinking water.
Health officials note that lead may accumulate in a person’s body over time and can cause harm to developing children, infants and unborn children.
Fedorko said residents should call the health department at 201-871-6501 for information on lead in drinking water and where to get water tested.
Tenafly is not Newark
In Tenafly, Mayor Peter Rustin said no one in Tenafly should make any comparison between the water situation in Newark and Tenafly during a council discussion Aug. 19.
He said “what’s happening in Newark is not going on in Tenafly” and said Suez has records of its service lines that are lead-based, and has removed some lines earlier this summer on East Clinton Avenue.
Rustin advised residents with questions about lead in drinking water to call Borough Hall.
Rustin’s comments were responding to concerns raised by Councilwoman Lauren Dayton, who charged that Suez was keeping her “in the dark” about local service line replacements and water test results.
In order to answer council questions, Borough Administrator Lissette Aportela said Suez agreed to meet with members in closed-session Sept. 24, similar to how they had handled a meeting with another municipality recently.
Aportela said they could not force Suez to hold a public session as the state Board of Public Utilities only has authority over the water utility. Rustin noted Suez “was very reluctant” to meet with Tenafly but nonetheless agreed to.
Dayton questioned why Suez had not responded to her calls and emails requesting lead testing results and information, adding “if there’s not a problem then tell us.”
She said that Suez’s non-response to her requests for information “is not acceptable.”
Even Borough Attorney William McClure wondered why Suez needed to meet in closed session with the council, unless it concerned borough-owned water pipes.
Aportela said Suez told her that the closed session was needed due to attorney-client privilege related to potential liability and exposure.
‘We have no power’
“We don’t have the ability to tell utilities what they can or should or shoudn’t do. By state statute we have no power. That’s one of the reasons in many cases I don’t feel we’re well served…We really should speak to our state representatives,” said Rustin.
Zinna also questioned why the session needed to be in closed session, as it “implies there is a problem” and asked McClure.
McClure noted Suez was providing 60-day advance notice to customers when lead line replacements might also involve possibly replacing a customer’s service line.
‘Want residents to know’
“From the standpoint of the borough’s liability, we certainly want our residents to know if there is lead in the water but I don’t see how it would be a closed session item for us except with respect to servicing our own properties,” said McClure.
Rustin said Suez sent letters to all customers of how and where to get water tested if customers are concerned.
He stressed if residents have concerns about water quality, they should have their water tested or call Borough Hall with any questions.
Back in May, Suez applied to the state Board of Public Utilities to propose a customer lead line replacement program offering to replace lead lines for a reduced cost of $1,000 when Suez is working on replacement of its lead service lines.
Such lead line replacements are estimated to cost $3,000 to $5,000, Suez said, with the remaining cost picked up by a surcharge on Suez’s 200,000 customers in Bergen and Hudson counties.
The BPU has not yet had a hearing on the proposal.
Efforts to reach Suez for comment on Englewood and Tenafly concerns were not returned by press time.
