TRENTON — The troubled Trenton Water Works remains in dire straits under Mayor Reed Gusciora as the city-owned utility continues to rack up violations, establishing 2018 as TWW’s most noncompliant year on record with three months remaining on the calendar.
TWW, which provides drinking water to residents in Trenton and four nearby suburbs, has been cited with 12 violations since Jan. 1, surpassing the record of 11 violations from last year, according to electronic DEP records dating back to 1992.
TWW’s record-breaking noncompliance in 2018 began with former Mayor Eric Jackson and continued into the inaugural term of Gusciora, who succeeded Jackson on July 1.
Some level of contamination is legally acceptable, but it is a violation if TTHM exceeds the maximum contaminant level of 80ug/L and if HAA5 exceeds the maximum contaminant level of 60ug/L.
In the latest violations, the TWW level for TTHM exceeded the maximum contaminant level at three sampling locations at 85, 87 and 91 ug/L, and the level for HAA5 exceeded the MCL at two locations at 63 ug/L, according to the city’s public notice.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says some people who drink water containing TTHM in excess of the maximum contaminant level over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer, and some people who drink water containing HAA5 in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
“Mayor Gusciora has tasked me to use all my knowledge and experience as a former water system regulator and mayor to reorganize Trenton Water Works, advance capital projects at the water filtration plant to improve water quality, and bolster regulatory compliance,” Hsueh said Wednesday in a statement.
Republican Mayor Kelly Yaede of Hamilton and members of Hamilton Township Council have been particularly critical of Trenton’s public water system after the city slowly issued a boil water advisory on Jan. 15, a date when the water became temporarily unsafe to drink.
Chris Christie left office, his administration blasted former Mayor Jackson’s administration for the ongoing problems at TWW.
“The City’s inability or unwillingness to act with the urgency the current situation requires,” former DEP commissioner Bob Martin said in a letter dated Jan. 12, “potentially puts at risk the health of the 225,000 people TWW serves in the City of Trenton and in Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrence and Hopewell townships.” Trenton Water Works has had 57 individual violations since 1992.