Downbeach towns have been receiving calls from concerned property owners unfamiliar with the state’s new law requiring municipalities to notify property owners about identifying where lead and galvanized steel water lines need to be replaced.
Ventnor, Margate and Longport sent letters to property owners by the state-imposed deadline on Nov. 15 and posted notices on their websites, notifying property owners that lead and galvanized steel service lines need to be identified so they can be replaced with piping that is less toxic.
In all instances, the municipalities have reassured residents that their water is safe to drink, and that any lead detected in their water is well below the acceptable limits imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.
Municipalities publish annual consumer confidence water quality reports that identify the concentration of certain contaminants in public water systems. Reports from all three Downbeach utilities indicate their drinking water is safe and meets all mandatory requirements.
Service lines are the ones that run from the water main to the meter at the curbline and then to the house. Municipalities have or will adopt ordinances that require property owners to allow the municipality or its contractor to come onto their property to inspect and replace the lines if necessary.
Longport solicitor Michael Affanato said the borough would soon introduce an ordinance requiring owners to allow the municipality to go onto their property to inspect or replace pipes.
“We are state mandated to do this. We have to be in a situation where we have the ability to tell a homeowner it’s the law and they have to let us come inspect your pipe,” Affanato said.
Homeowners will be instructed how to inspect their own pipes, or a private contractor can do it.
Replacing lead and galvanized steel lines has been discussed for several years on a national, state and local level ever since residents of Flint, Michigan learned they were exposed to dangerous levels of lead in their drinking water. Lead can cause serious health effects, especially in children, which can result in learning disabilities and other health problems.
Lead can cause serious health issues when ingested, including brain and kidney damage. Infants, children and pregnant women are most at risk. The mineral can cause lower IQ in young children and kidney damage and high blood pressure in adults. Lead exposure can also come from the dust produced by lead-based paints that have been outlawed.
The U.S. Environmental Protection and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection have deemed that all water delivery systems, including municipal water systems, must replace all lead and galvanized service lines by 2031. Replacing the lines will cost millions of dollars and funding is available from the state’s Infrastructure Bank (IBank) to help municipalities pay for it.
The cost for Ventnor is estimated at $66 million, Margate $58.5 million and Longport’s cost could be much less. All three municipalities have discussed doing the lead pipe replacement project in phases.
But at this time, Downbeach towns are in the process of identifying properties where lead service lines will need to be replaced.
A letter was sent by the annual Nov. 15 notification deadline to property owners whose homes were built before 1989, shortly after lead and galvanized steel water service line pipes were banned, advising them that their pipes would need to be inspected to determine if they are made of lead or galvanized steel. Once verification is made, they will be taken off the list for future notification letters.
“As required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Margate Water Department must notify property owners with unknown service line material annually via direct mail until their service line is identified and/or replaced (if needed). This notification will follow the city’s annual July inventory submission to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection,” Margate’s letter states.
If a service line is confirmed to be made of lead or galvanized steel, the utility departments in each respective town will have to replace them by the 2031 deadline.
“The state law requires the local utility notify any homeowners on our list that have an unknown status,” engineer Ed Dennis said. “Understandably, people who received those notices are a little alarmed by that because it discusses lead pipes in their homes.”
However, he said there is no cause for alarm. Many homes in Downbeach towns have been rebuilt and service lines have already been replaced.
“We are working on Phase 1 of a multi-year project,” Dennis told the Longport Board of Commissioners Nov. 22. “Contractors will go out to verify the type of pipe they have, and in most cases, it won’t be galvanized.”
Dennis said the firm is also putting together a website that will provide residents with information about the project, an interactive map, and list those that were inspected and or replaced. It will also include general information about lead in pipes and the law.
A link to the website will be posted on municipal websites.
Margate is currently in the first phase of the project, which will identify where lead pipes are located.
“Like most municipalities, we don’t have very precise information on what’s in the ground,” Dennis said. “A big portion of the list is of unknown status. We are in the process of doing engineering and as we work our way through, many won’t need to be replaced, but because we have unknowns, it requires notification.”
Margate Public Works Director Pat Power said the town will send fewer notification letters in future years.
“Hopefully fewer houses will get the letter next year. There’s nothing wrong with our water. Our water is fine.” Power said.
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