Free Lead Item Screening: Montclair, Nutley, Verona/Cedar Grove

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Health Department will hold two, free consumer product testing events for lead to residents of Montclair, Cedar Grove, Nutley and Verona.

According to a municipal news release, the workshops will offer testing for lead in painted products, toys, ceramics, metals, plastics, makeup, spices, wood and soil.

Items and/or samples can be brought to the health department on the third floor of the Montclair Municipal Building, 205 Claremont Avenue, on the following days:

• Tuesday, Sept. 17 - 10 a.m. to noon
• Tuesday, Sept. 24 - 10 a.m. to noon

For more information, contact Senior Registered Environmental Health Specialist Keith Costello by phone at 973-509-4972 or by email at kcostello@montclairnjusa.org.

The events in Montclair come as the town’s neighbor, Newark, continues to struggle with lead water contamination in thousands of homes.

Newark officials have identified aging, privately owned lead service pipes as the main source of the contamination. Several of Montclair’s other Essex County neighbors, including Belleville, Nutley and Bloomfield, purchase drinking water from Newark.

According to the 2018 Montclair drinking water report, the township gets its water from the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission (NJDWSC). The Township of Montclair and the Borough of Glen Ridge are partners in the NJDWSC, which owns and operates the 29.6 billion-gallon Wanaque Reservoir and Treatment Plant and the 7-billion-gallon Monksville Reservoir. The water is received by the Township of Montclair through its Grove Street Pumping Station and is pumped throughout Montclair. The Montclair system also includes three municipal wells. (Read the full report)

The latest round of testing met all state and federal standards, Montclair officials said.

• See related article: Court Rules Against Newark Activists In Battle Over Bottled Water
• See related article: Belleville Residents Drink 'Same Exact Water' As Newark, Mayor Says
• See related article: Verona Does Not Receive Water From Newark, Officials Say

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