Belleville Lead Water Pipe Project Gets $1M Shot In Arm From Feds

BELLEVILLE, NJ — Belleville will get nearly $1 million in federal funding to help it replace lead service lines in the township and protect the local water supply, officials recently announced.

According to U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), all 15 of the community projects that she advocated for as part of this year’s federal budget cycle have been approved. President Joe Biden signed a spending package into law earlier this month, greenlighting the earmarks for the 11th District – including Belleville.

Belleville will receive $959,752, which will be put towards the first phase of its town-wide replacement project. The ongoing project kicked off in late 2022.

When Gov. Phil Murphy signed a landmark package of bills into law in 2021, it started a countdown clock for towns across New Jersey, including Belleville. And within the next decade, every public water system in the state will have to replace their lead, galvanized and brass service lines.

The pipes – which connect local homes and businesses to the local water supply – can potentially leach contamination as water passes through them, one of the suspected culprits behind the recent lead water contamination in Belleville’s neighbor, Newark. A portion of the pipes may be privately owned, complicating efforts to replace them. Read More: New Jersey Is Replacing Its Lead Water Pipes – All Of Them

“Even though few would argue that access to clean, safe drinking water is not a fundamental human right, we have sometimes had difficulty finding allies in our efforts to maintain Belleville’s water quality,” Belleville Mayor Michael Melham said.

“While we put these federal dollars to good use and continue to upgrade our lines, residents can be assured that we will continue to closely monitor the quality of our water supply,” the mayor added.

Melham previously estimated that replacing the town’s lead service lines could cost up to $24 million.

OTHER PROJECTS IN NJ-11

Rep. Sherrill said she was “proud” to have helped the 15 submitted projects earn funding.

“These funding requests address a wide range of issues – like crime prevention and flood mitigation – that are of the utmost importance to local leaders and constituents in NJ-11,” the congresswoman said.

“With these federal resources, our towns will be able to invest in our communities without raising local taxes and make our district and state an even better place to live, work, and raise a family,” Sherrill said.

In addition to the funding for Belleville, the list of projects in NJ-11 includes:

• $963,000: Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Regional ALPR Expansion
• $963,000: Essex County Coalition of 17 Municipalities for ALPR Expansion
• $500,000: Passaic County / Little Falls Traffic Light Installation
• $959,752: Maplewood New Stormwater Subsystems
• $500,000: Hanover, East Hanover, Florham Park, Morristown, Morris Plains Whippany River Regional Improvement Initiative Phase II
• $4,116,279: Madison Drew Forest Preservation
• $750,000: Jefferson Public Sanitary Sewers Initial Army Corps Study
• $959,752: Wayne Mountain View Pump Station Rehabilitation Project
• $1,000,000: County College of Morris Workforce Development Center
• $963,000: Seton Hall University Semiconductor Related Research & Workforce Development
• $850,000: Chatham Borough ECLC School Facility Renovations
• $500,000: Nutley Public School District Smoke Detectors and Fire Alarms
• $1,000,000: Denville Community Center Renovation Project
• $850,000: West Essex YMCA Facility Construction

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