The township’s water was the hot topic of the Moorestown Town Council meeting Monday, March 7. Township Manager Scott Carew gave a clarification and apology concerning a letter sent to residents last month regarding a Maximum Contaminant Level violation from February 2015. Council also passed a resolution to award a contract to Calgon Carbon Corporation for carbon filters for $376,400, as long as all conditions are met.
Letter
A letter was sent Feb. 24 notifying residents about a MCL violation for total coliform on Feb. 11, 2015. Coliforms are bacteria naturally present in the environment and used as an indicator that other potentially harmful bacteria may be present. The letter, which included a recommendation to boil water and detailed those who were at increased risk, caused alarm and confusion among residents.
A letter from utilities superintendent Bill Butler and Carew was then sent March 4, clarifying mistakes in the Feb. 24 letter and how the letter came about a year after the MCL violation. Carew also spoke about the situation at the council meeting.
“I apologize both to the public and to council for the clumsiness of it, the unnecessary concern the notification caused and to provide some context on how we got to this notification,” Carew said.
According to the Butler’s letter, the township collects 24 samples per month from 24 NJDEP approved locations to test for total coliform. In February 2015, Moorestown Water Department incurred a MCL violation for total coliform in accordance with standards established by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulations. A single location, which council declined to identify since it was a business, had two positive results for coliform, but negative results for E.coli. As a result of the MCL violation, MWD conducted the required limited assessment of the entire distribution system. Within a week, that location tested negative. No other locations tested positive and the original location has not had positive results since. Moorestown completed a Level 1 Assessment Form on March 9, 2015, concluding the positive test results were likely the result of an issue with the tap where the samples were taken and not the water system as a whole. Since then, MWD has not incurred any other MCL violations for total coliforms.
Due to the MCL violation, MWD was required to conduct “public notification” to its customers and other users of the drinking water system in the manner laid out in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulations. MWD posted the information on its website and submitted the Public Notice Certification form in a timely manner. MWN did not, however, notify customers by mail, which was also required.
“It was a mistake made and I do believe it was an honest mistake,” Carew said.
In February, the state Department of Environmental Protection discovered MWD had not made the required mailing about the previous year’s MCL violation. In accordance with the federal regulations, DEP instructed MWD to send the mailing, even though the event occurred a year earlier.
According to a release from Carew, the boil water advisory in the mailing should not have been included because subsequent testing was not positive. The fact the advisory was included, and there was a delay in sending the notice by mail, were oversights by both MWD and DEP, Carew said.
All members of council felt it was a mistake that should not have happened. Deputy Mayor Victoria Napolitano said it caused unneeded alarm.
“I have to say that I think the way this was handled was atrocious, at a time when the community is concerned about their water. I think that transparency is extremely important… Ultimately we should’ve had more dialogue between the township and DEP as to not cause alarm,” Napolitano said.
Councilwoman Stacey Jordan suggested a policy be considered to look into items such as these notifications before they go to the public.
Those letters and more information can be found on the township’s website at www.moorestown.nj.us and the Moorestown Water Project Page www.moorestown.nj.us/383/Township-Water-Project. The letters can also be seen in the gallery below.
Resolution
A resolution on last week’s agenda would award a contract to Calgon Carbon Corporation for granular activated carbon filters for $376,400, to be used at the North Church Street Water Treatment Plants to help filter the Trichloropropane (TCP 1,2,3) and Trichlorethylene (TCE) found in Wells 7 and 9. This is a temporary solution.
Utilities engineer L. Russell Trice recommended the township hire Calgon Carbon as it offered the option of buying the filters after the rental period.
During public comment, resident and a utility engineer Danielle Brodecki asked if the township received approval from the DEP for the carbon filters, as a permit may be required. Carew said he is not aware that a permit was submitted or required. According to Brodecki, Trice said a permit was not required at the last meeting discussing the temporary water treatment. However, since that meeting, Brodecki found a code saying one is needed and requested the township not approve a contract to purchase the equipment for something that has not been approved by the DEP.
Borough Solicitor Anthony Drollas said that Caldon has a limited supply of filters so action needed to be taken quickly; he also said the township wouldn’t do anything without the DEP’s approval and Moorestown has been in contact with the DEP. However, Drollas said he would look into the possible issue of a permit.
Napolitano also said that the resolution is authorizing the clerk to give notice in 10 days. That gives the township 10 days to make sure everything is in order. She felt that the resolution should be passed, and if there was any concern, the contract does not need to be awarded. Jordan agreed, also saying the DEP is working with Moorestown.
Councilwoman Lisa Petriello felt the council should err on the side of caution.
“We rushed with the library demolition. I felt we were trying to beat the clock to get something down without as much information as we could have had and I don’t want to repeat the same mistake here,” Petriello said.
Council passed the resolution 4–1, with a no from Petriello.
In other news:
• Chris Chesner and Brad Kenney of the Moorestown Fire Department asked council to consider adopting an ordinance that could provide incentives for fire volunteers, not only to show support, but also help with recruitment, as both fire districts in Moorestown are light on volunteers. Council said it would look into it.
• Town Council honored three Eagle Scouts, James Twomey and Ian Millstein of Troop 44 and Nathaniel Guevara of Troop 61, for obtaining their Eagle Scout Awards.
• Moorestown Town Council passed an ordinance on final reading that extends the amount of time a pawn dealer has to make a piece of property sold to them by a member of the public available for inspection from three to 10 days, in accordance with state law.
