Fair Lawn News

Matt Ahearn	Bob Gordon	Ed Trawinski

As Chair of the State Assembly Study Commission responsible to review drought and water safety issues last year I initiated a legislative package to tighten water conservation laws and regulations, and focused DEP resources on reviewing past unused plans for expanding the depth of reservoirs. I am a sponsor of several pieces of legislation that have moved through the Assembly to tighten development in watershed areas, enhance protection for drinking water sources, make polluters pay the costs of clean ups, and to study and where possible actually prove connections between drinking water, nuclear power plants and other known toxic release industries, and illnesses such as childhood cancers and Alzheimer's disease. I am considered a legislative ally to the Environmental Federation, the Sierra Club, and other pro-consumer and community focused groups. I get very nasty looks in the Statehouse from the lobbyists for the chemical based industries that stand to lose a bit of profit from the above agenda, so I must be doing something right for the people.	Water supplies in New Jersey have been tainted by four types of contaminants: (1) microbiological (bacteria present in the environment), (2) inorganic chemicals (from natural erosion and runoff), (3) volatile organic chemicals, or VOCs (from industrial pollution or gasoline additives), and (4) a wide variety of synthetic organic compounds, called "Tentatively Identified Compounds," or TICs (from household chemicals and pharmaceuticals). Most water systems do an adequate job of removing the first two. The last category has been detected only recently, usually in minute quantities, and at this point, we do not know if they pose a hazard. The big problem is with VOCs, which contaminate groundwater, often from leaking underground tanks. Groundwater-fed wells provide half of the state's drinking water, and as demonstrated by the drought, are becoming an increasingly precious resource. Based on current standards and detection technology, the quality of Fair Lawn's water is relatively good. We had a serious VOC problem in the 1980s, but shortly after I joined the Council, the Borough built several "air stripper" devices that remove nearly all of the chemicals. Our wells generally produce better water than the supplies drawn from reservoirs. Many other communities are not so lucky. According to a Record story of September 22, 2002, the state has 12,648 documented sites where groundwater has been contaminated by VOCs and other cancer-causing chemicals. As of 2001, more than 8,500 leaking underground tanks had been identified. As the Record story documents, past efforts by the state to stop the pollution have been ineffective. Tough laws already exist, but the Whitman administration emphasized negotiating with polluters, rather than enforcement. Granting extensions for cleanup plans were the norm. As a result, many known sources of contamination were allowed to continue to pollute for years and the problem worsened. The McGreevey administration is now cracking down on polluters, but I believe additional steps are needed to reverse the trend. I would press the Department of Environmental Protection to: - Back up warnings with heavy fines and enforcement action · Streamline the enforcement process and upgrade computer systems to reduce case backlogs - Require immediate testing of nearby wells as soon as a pollution source is identified (well testing is often delayed for years after a problem is discovered) - Require regular testing of underground tanks containing gasoline and increase the number of inspectors (today, each inspector must track 3,200 tanks)	While we all know that many of Fair Lawn's wells were found to be contaminated over a decade ago, it is my understanding that Fair Lawn's wells and water currently meets or exceeds all Federal EPA and New Jersey DEP standards. I am aware of a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Resources and Technology study identifying compounds that may be contaminants in New Jersey water, but as I understand that study is trying to identify and categorize compounds which are relatively minute traces (less than one part per billion). Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly endorse the DEP study identifying compounds that may be contaminants. There is no question that the DEP and the EPA need to continually update the science to ensure that our water is safe to drink. The DEP study is located at www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr. (Click on Research Project Summaries; click on Water; click on last report on the page.) That web site also contains an excellent homeowner's guide on Arsenic in Drinking Water. To ensure that there is enough water for the needs of residents and businesses, the State must make sure that all water purveyors (public and private) maintain their systems. Of course conservation should constantly be encouraged. The NJDEP and State Planning Commission should analyze the projected need for water based on the State Plan, water supply, capacity, distribution, interconnection(s), and any other relevant information to establish and implement a water supply and distribution plan which then constantly should be updated.