Lead Crisis in Newark Grows, as Bottled Water Distribution Is Bungled
Worries about the safety of the drinking water in New Jersey’s largest city have raised comparisons to Flint, Mich.
EWARK — A growing crisis over lead contamination in drinking water gripped Newark on Wednesday as tens of thousands of residents were told to drink only bottled water, the culmination of years of neglect that has pushed New Jersey’s largest city to the forefront of an environmental problem afflicting urban areas across the nation.
Urgent new warnings from federal environmental officials about contamination in drinking water from aging lead pipes spread anxiety and fear across much of Newark, but the municipal government’s makeshift efforts to set up distribution centers to hand out bottled water were hampered by confusion and frustration.
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.
The intensifying worry about the safety of Newark’s drinking water has raised comparisons to Flint, Mich, where dangerous levels of lead led to criminal indictments against state and local officials and forced residents to rely on bottled water. Sign Up for Summer in the City The best things to do in N.Y.C. during the hottest season of the year. This limited-edition newsletter will launch before Memorial Day and run through Labor Day.
Worries about the safety of the drinking water in New Jersey’s largest city have raised comparisons to Flint, Mich.
EWARK — A growing crisis over lead contamination in drinking water gripped Newark on Wednesday as tens of thousands of residents were told to drink only bottled water, the culmination of years of neglect that has pushed New Jersey’s largest city to the forefront of an environmental problem afflicting urban areas across the nation.
Urgent new warnings from federal environmental officials about contamination in drinking water from aging lead pipes spread anxiety and fear across much of Newark, but the municipal government’s makeshift efforts to set up distribution centers to hand out bottled water were hampered by confusion and frustration.
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.
The intensifying worry about the safety of Newark’s drinking water has raised comparisons to Flint, Mich, where dangerous levels of lead led to criminal indictments against state and local officials and forced residents to rely on bottled water.
Sign Up for Summer in the City
The best things to do in N.Y.C. during the hottest season of the year. This limited-edition newsletter will launch before Memorial Day and run through Labor Day.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/nyregion/newark-water-lead.html