Moorestown seeks assistance in tracking down cause of water contamination.
Council unanimously approved a resolution to put out a request for qualifications from firms specializing in cost recovery services for water treatment improvements.
For years the township has been working to address the issue after the discovery of the chemical compound trichloropropane — also known as 1,2,3-TCP — in two of its wells in 2013 as part of an EPA program monitoring unregulated contaminants.
In Moorestown, the contamination led to the shutdown of two wells in October 2014 and forced the township to spend millions on buying extra water from New Jersey American Water as well as developing and installing a temporary filtration system at the North Church Street water treatment plant.
With the system in place the township was able to reopen one of the two wells in March and continues to monitor the water for contaminants.
"They would put together all the costs and they would go after those who caused the issue in the first place," he continued.
"That would include the cost of New Jersey Amercian Water purchases we’ve made, plus all the recovery costs for the interim treatment and final treatment."
Township Manager Thomas Merchel said the municipality is working with the state Department of Environmental Protection on the matter.
He added the firm chosen will likely have a team in place that specializes in these investigations and would be hired on a contingency basis.
Prior to selecting a firm, a committee, which has yet to be formed, will go over the proposals and make a recommendation to the full council.