Moorestown Water Group Launches White Ribbon Campaign

Moorestown, NJ -- The Moorestown Water Group has launched a “White Ribbon Campaign,” aimed at raising awareness about the township’s water issues.

“Moorestown Water is making the rounds hanging white ribbons around town,” the group said in a recent Facebook post. “Those who were not home when we arrived will see we placed the ribbons at our discretion. If you do not like it please feel free to move them.”

The group said it has received requests for multiple ribbons on properties, and are encouraging residents to contact them if they want more ribbons.

The group formed last year, after the presence of TCP 1,2,3 in the township’s water originating from the North Church Street Water Treatment Plant was first addressed publicly in 2014. TCP 1,2,3 is a man made, unregulated contaminant.

It also is looking to raise awareness of TCE and radiological contaminants in the water.

As part of its effort, group co-founder Kati Angelini recently received a letter from the office of Congressman Tom MacArthur, concerning a letter about cleanup at a Superfund Site that may be responsible for the presence of TCP 1,2,3.

MacArthur forwarded that letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and received a response. EPA says it is unlikely the Pulverizing Services Site is the root of the contamination in its response.

However, it is mandating the potentially responsible party install two monitoring wells and conduct additional monitoring of groundwater, including for TCP 1,2,3.

The site is an inactive and unoccupied former pesticide formulating facility. Operations there included the grinding, micronizing and blending of pesticides, according to the EPA letter.

Waste material was disposed of in trenches around the buildings and in drums on the site. The site was closed in 1983, after operations there ceased in 1979.

A mass excavation of that site took place from 1990-2007, and the potentially responsible party conducted a remedial investigation of the groundwater, surface water and sediments on the site in 2013.

Contaminants were not detected in the deep aquifier, which serves as the drinking water source. Any contaminants that were present were confined to a shallow aquifier. Those contaminants were not identified in the letter.

The Moorestown Water Group points out that this decision may be something that impacts taxpayers.
The township is also instituting its own cleanup, which includes four pieces of legislation related to water remediation at the North Church Street treatment plant that were approved by council last week.

At that meeting, resident Kathy Sutherland accused the group of creating a problem where one didn’t exist for political gain, and that it was the actions of the Moorestown Water Group that would end up costing the taxpayers.

Angelini is one of three Democrats running for three open seats in the Nov. 8 general elections. The five-member council currently consists of four Republicans and one Democrat.

“For more information or to receive a ribbon and support the campaign, interested residents can attend the Moorestown Water Group monthly meetings, or join the Moorestown Water Facebook Page which posts constant updates about the water crisis in Moorestown and what is being done by local officials to clean up the problem,” the group said in its press release.

For more information you can email the group at: moorestownwater@gmail.com. In addition, you can contact Angelini for further details at 609­-332-­2172 or kati_angelini@comcast.net.