Assemblymen Propose Legislation on TCP as Questions About Moorestown's Water Continue

Assemblymen Herb Conaway, MD, and Troy Singleton (both D- Burlington) unveiled legislation Friday that would establish safe maximum contaminant levels of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP), a known carcinogen, in New Jersey’s drinking water.

“Federal and state agencies have found that TCP can cause cancer and serious health problems, but in New Jersey no safe standards have been established,” Conaway, the chairman of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, in a release issued on Friday. “This legislation will help correct that. When New Jerseyans turn on the tap, they should be confident that their water is safe to drink.”

TCP is a completely manmade element likely to act as a carcinogenic in humans, according to epa.gov.

However, it is not considered a contaminant because there are no federal standards in place.

The issue was brought to the attention of the legislators by concerned Moorestown residents.

The measure calls on the New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute to develop and recommend a safe maximum contaminant level of less than 0.03 parts per billion (ppb) for 1,2,3-TCP in New Jersey’s water supply. The recommendations would be due within 90 days of the legislation’s enactment.

Moorestown recently closed two wells on Church Street for further evaluation of the chemical in Moorestown’s drinking water. Moorestown’s 2013 Water Quality Report listed the amount of TCP found in the water at 0.038 parts per billion.

On Friday, Mayor Chris Chiacchio provided Moorestown Patch with a letter from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Director Fred Sickels.

In the letter, Sickels states that the drinking water in Moorestown “meets all drinking water standards (maximum contaminant levels, or MCLs).”

“My staff will continue to work with Moorestown water personnel should additional sampling be recommended and to resolve any firm capacity issues,” Sickels says in the letter.

“We will continue to work as we have been, to make sure Moorestown’s water infrastructure continues to be updated and improved to avoid problems down the road,”Chiacchio said.

A resident raised the issue at the Sept. 22 Council meeting, when he referred to the 2013 Water Quality Report.

Since then, the wells have been closed, and Chiacchio told philly.com in a post dated Oct. 11 that the Township would be applying for funding through the State’s Spill Compensation Fund, which provides financial assistance for treatment and cleanup efforts.

However, the Township applied for compensation through the fund on June 11 of this year and was denied by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) two days later. NJDEP denied funds to the Township because the initial sample was collected on May 10, 2013. A municipality has 12 months to apply for compensation from the time of initial discovery.

NJDPEP recently asked municipalities in the State to collect data on unregistered contaminants between 2013 and 2015. Moorestown elected to collect samples in 2013, according to Moorestown Utilities Superintendent Bill Butler.

“While these samples were collected and monitored by both the EPA, DEP and myself no alarm bells went off concerning the results,” Butler said in an email Friday morning. “I began discussing the matter with the DEP in May 2014. That’s when the NJDEP ask me to contact the Spill Fund branch of the DEP. Unfortunately the Township was ineligible for compensation due to being reported more than one year after the date of discovery.”

He added that immediate action would be needed to get it removed from any water system.

Butler said he initiated the conversation in May of this year concerning an additional standard for testing.

He added that the Township is currently working with the Immediate Concern Unit of the DEP, per their recommendation, to identify other funding sources.

Butler and Township Manager Scott Carew said council was unaware that Butler was applying for the funding earlier this year.

“DEP did not express concerns, nor did they recommend closing wells 7 and 9 until October 6 of this year,” Township Manager Scott Carew said. “In June, Mr. Butler and the Utility Engineer (the people working on developing treatment solutions) were not anticipating the DEP’s recommendation to close the wells. Since the EPA monitoring program is continuing until the end of next year, with any MCL or regulations for TCP not anticipated until the end of 2016 at the earliest, the thought in June was that the treatment of the wells would be dealt with like any other capital utility project.”

“That’s why we have a Township Manager,” Deputy Mayor Stacey Jordan said. ”It’s Scott’s job and Bill’s job to pursue different grants and to get that money. They pursue any means they can to get that money.”

Councilman Greg Newcomer expressed concern, and said he is interested in learning where the TCP is coming from.

TCP is labeled as an unregulated contaminant, which can cause confusion among those concerned about the quality of their drinking water. The measure proposed on Friday aims to eliminate confusion.

“It is unacceptable that there is no state or federal standard for this chemical in our drinking water. It’s troubling that consistent guidelines are not in place to protect residents from this potentially harmful chemical,” Singleton said in the statement. “I’m grateful to the citizens of Moorestown who brought this to light and prompted the action to shut down these wells.”

A video of the announcement, recorded by Open Doors Moorestown and posted on YouTube, is attached to this post.