The state of Moorestown’s drinking water was once again the hot topic at the Moorestown Town Council meeting last week.
Moorestown officials responded to the Moorestown Water Group’s concerns at the April 11 council meeting while also giving an update on the temporary treatment to filter out the Trichloropropane (TCP 1,2,3) and Trichlorethylene (TCE) found in Wells 7 and 9 at North Church Street Water Treatment Plants.
Moorestown Water Group
Over the April 9 and 10 weekend, the group sent an email of communications received between the township and the state Department of Environmental Protection through an OPRA request. From the information received, the group is saying the pilot study was invalid due to slow loading rates, not testing deep enough and not enough columns for testing.
In the email, the DEP said the Surface Loading Rate used during the study was four times slower than the rate proposed in the temporary treatment. They also said the study should have had multiple columns, while Moorestown used one, and it is possible it didn’t go deep enough to collect contaminates that could sink to the bottom.
Township Manager Scott Carew denied this, also saying the township did not lie when accused of lying about the TCP 1,2,3 non-detect in summer of 2015, and said the well was pumping at a normal rate and went the full depth during testing. He also stated the DEP was kept informed throughout the study.
Utilities Engineer L. Russell Trice also said the township used the one column testing as it is standard, and that one way is not better than the other. He stated the township was testing for sample points at various depths, which can be done accurately using one column. According to Trice, everything the township did, and possible reasons why there were discrepancies, was for the specific measures required of the pilot study.
“There were reasons for (why we did what we did) and that was done specifically. NJDEP didn’t understand what they were looking at,” Rice said.
Kati Angelini of the Moorestown Water Group, a Democratic candidate for council, said she finds it hard to believe NJDEP would be unable to understand his conclusions. She, as well as other residents and members of the group present at the meeting, expressed concerns with how the township and NJDEP are handling the water situation in Moorestown.
Temporary treatment
Also that night, Carew informed the public that the township is on its seventh round of providing information to the DEP to get approval for the temporary treatment.
He said he is not sure why the DEP didn’t ask for all the information up front.
“We’re hopeful this will come to an end relatively quick,” Carew said.
“I believe that we are close to approval,” Trice said.
As Wells 7 and 9 are closed, Moorestown is getting its water from New Jersey American Water. Members of the Moorestown Water Group have asked that because the temporary solution only treats the TCP 1,2,3 and the TCE, and not the radiological contaminants, that the township not go through with the purchase.
They would prefer receiving the water from NJAW or finding another solution.
Carew said the township is talking to the DEP to come up with a plan for the radiological contaminates if the results come higher than the MCL. According to the New Jersey Drinking Water Watch website, Moorestown has not exceeded the MCL radiological contaminants since June 2015.
According to chief financial officer Tom Merchel, using NJAW for a 12-month period would cost an additional $6 million on top of what Moorestown already pays. The temporary solution would cost the township between $500,000 to $600,000 to run for 18 months and around $200,000 for the installation.
Carew said he expects a resolution to award a contract for the installation of the temporary treatment at the April 25 agenda. He hopes there will be approval by the DEP by that point.
