Erin Brokovich's Team Ready To Discuss Findings Of Moorestown Water Investigation

MOORESTOWN, NJ — An investigation opened by prominent activist Erin Brokovich’s team into Moorestown’s water issues last fall is complete, and her team is ready to hold a town hall meeting.

Michael Babcock, a member of the Moorestown Water Group, told council on Monday night that the investigation is concluded and Bob Bowcock, who is overseeing the investigation for Brokovich, believes the contaminants found in Moorestown’s water are man-made.

Bowcock and the Moorestown Water Group are working to set up a town hall meeting in early April, but no official date has been set. Council members said they are open to the meeting, but wondered if Bowcock had tried to contact anyone from the township about the investigation, according to the Moorestown Sun.

In November, then-Mayor Phil Garwood told Patch no one from the township had been contacted by either Brokovich or Bowcock. In response, Bowcock said the entities being investigated are typically not eager to share a lot of information with him and Brokovich, which is why they hadn’t been in touch with the township at that point. He also said at the time that they may contact the township at some point during the investigation.

Bowcock said he had spoken with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Moorestown Water Group.

In November, Bowcock, of Integrated Resource Management Inc., said they opened the investigation after receiving several emails from Moorestown residents, and that they had been investigating the issue for about six months.

At that point, he also said he expected the investigation to last about 6-8 weeks.

Bowcock said they were surprised to see the manmade contaminant Trichloropropane 1,2,3 (TCP 1,2,3) in Moorestown’s water since it is normally found in California and Florida with the use of certain pesticides.

It’s typically used to kill nematods, roundworms that attack garden pests and plants alike. Bowcock said it is more than likely the origin of the presence of TCP 1,2,3 came from the superfund site that was nearby.
He said the presence of Trichlorethylene (TCE) most likely comes from the Lockheed Martin site at 199 Borton Landing Road.

Bowcock said Moorestown has made some mistakes in its handling of the issue, including certain aspects of the treatment. He also said he is disturbed that New Jersey American Water hasn’t taken more of a leadership role when it comes to making the community aware of these contaminants and how to treat them.

Patch file photo of Erin Brokovich