Trenton – Senate President Steve Sweeney issued the following statement today welcoming the ideas offered by Governor Phil Murphy to better protect the state’s drinking water, including actions needed to guard against lead contamination in schools:

“I welcome the ideas offered today that acknowledge the urgency of the clean water crisis and recognize the need for immediate action. Many of them track the actions we outlined last week and follow through on legislative initiatives. They should now be made a priority.

“Our schools should be able to ensure clean and safe drinking water for all of our schoolchildren and protect against any exposure to lead contamination.

“Thankfully, the delay in securing the funding of $100 million to help school districts remove the dangerous threat of lead contamination will now be resolved. The testing requirement for all school districts will now be enforced, state funding to cover their costs will be provided and the results will be accessible to the public. These are good steps, but more needs to be done.”

Senator Sweeney referred to the other actions he and other senators outlined last week, including the hearings on the Water Quality Accountability Act that have focused on the importance of enforcing the two-year-old law, funding corrective action plans for school districts with contaminated water, and prioritizing the replacement of lead service lines, among other steps.