The New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute has failed to meet since December 19, 2018. Two meetings were scheduled in March and May, respectively, but both were canceled. No meeting date has been scheduled since. The DWQI did not meet for five years under the Christie Administration. The New Jersey Sierra Club sent a letter to DEP Commissioner McCabe, attached below, asking why the DWQI has not met since December of last year. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“New Jersey has a serious problem with toxic chemicals in our drinking water. Some places in the state are at crisis level, yet the agency that is supposed to set standards and protect public health has not met in almost a year. This is a failure to act by the DEP when it comes to protecting our water from chemicals. Every day of delay is another day that the people of New Jersey are drinking water they shouldn’t be drinking,” said Tittel. “DEP Commissioner McCabe is responsible for setting the agenda and meeting schedule for the DWQI, so why is she taking so long to set a meeting? What makes this worse is that the DWQI did not meet for five years under Christie, and now the Murphy Administration has delayed setting a meeting for almost a year. We were hoping that the new Administration would get the DWQI up and running, but they are dragging their feet. This failure to move forward is putting people and public health at risk.”

The Institute is responsible for setting the standards of acceptable limits for toxins and carcinogens in our drinking water. They look at health-based risk assessments to ensure that the water we drink is safe. Many of the chemicals they deal with can be linked to birth defects, childhood development problems, cancers, and other serious health complications. The Institute has received awards in the past for the work they have done not only saving thousands of lives, but millions of dollars.

“The people of New Jersey are continuing to be exposed to chemicals in their drinking water because no new standards have been set. New chemicals are being found in New Jersey water supplies all the time. Recent reports from Environmental Working Group show toxins in over five hundred water systems in the state. TCE and PCE, carcinogens that cause birth defects and respiratory problems, have been found in wells in New Jersey. 1,4-Dioxane, which is a carcinogen that can affect the liver and kidneys, was found in Wanaque Reservoir. The DWQI has the best scientists, but if they don’t meet the DEP cannot move forward with setting and amending standards,” said Jeff Tittel. “In 2010, there were eleven chemicals that DWQI was going to nominate for new standards based on scientific research. We’ve been waiting almost ten years for these recommendations to come into effect, and now under the Murphy Administration we’re waiting even longer. The Administration is dragging their feet and siding with polluters.”

The Drinking Water Quality Institute can also recommend improvements for existing standards. For example, lead drinking water standards are currently very high. Under the Trump Administration, the federal standard for lead levels in drinking water has increased to 15 ppb. The New Jersey Private Well Act restricts lead levels for private well water to 5 ppb.

“While we’re waiting for new standards, people are drinking water they shouldn’t be drinking because the set standards are too high. Our children are being poisoned by lead in the water. A child living in an apartment in Newark can be exposed to lead levels up to 15 ppb, while a family living in Mendham will have levels lower than 5 ppb. There is something wrong with this. Also, because any lead in drinking water is unsafe, the Maximum Contaminant Level should be no higher than 1 ppb,” said Tittel. “These drinking water standards are also used for groundwater and soil for industrial sites. Failure to update these standards lets the polluters off the hook for paying for cleanup of sites or additional treatment of water supplies. There are 3,500 wells in New Jersey near toxic sites. This is the administration siding with polluters and special interests over the environment and public health.”

During the previous Administration, Governor Christie froze all rules and standards, including those recommended by the Institute. For example, he froze and then rescinded the standard for perchlorate. The Institute was also working on standards for PFNA, PFC, chromium, and arsenic, but the DEP at the time failed to act on some of their recommendations. DEP staff also deliberately misled the legislature in Senate hearings under the previous Administration. Now, under the Murphy Administration, the DWQI has only met twice and the last meeting was almost a year ago in December 2018.

“Given the seriousness of our existing water quality problems in New Jersey, we’re concerned that no date has been set for the next DWQI meeting. The Murphy Administration made a commitment to move forward, but almost a year has passed since the last Institute meeting and no drinking water standards have been set or amended. Water quality standards for dangerous chemicals like PFOAs and PFOs need to be adopted,” said Tittel. “We’ve been waiting for ten years since Christie blocked the creation of standards for chemicals like perchlorates. Under Christie, the DEP deliberately misled the legislature to stop bills that would have directed the DEP to adopt standards as recommended by DWQI. We can’t continue to wait. Every day we’re finding more and more chemicals in our water. The Administration is siding with chemical industries and polluters rather than coming up with new standards. By keeping the DWQI from meeting, they are putting people at risk and letting polluters off the hook.”