45 N.J. Towns That Have Harmful Pollutants In Drinking Water, According To New Study

When water flows out of the faucet and into a glass, it usually appears clean and healthy. A report released Wednesday, though, found harmful contaminants in the New Jersey water supply that can cause cancer, developmental issues in children, problems in pregnancy and other serious health conditions.

Eleven harmful contaminants were found in the water supplies in 45 New Jersey towns, according to a report released by the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, an independent nonprofit organization that released a detailed account of the contaminants (see lists below).

“There are chemicals that have been linked to cancer, for example, that are found above health-based limits, or health guidelines, in the water of more than 250 million Americans,” said Nneka Leiba, director of Healthy Living Science at EWG.

EWG, in conjunction with outside scientists, assessed health-based guidelines for hundreds of chemicals found in our water across the country and compared them to the legal limits. The law often permits utilities to allow these dangerous chemicals to pollute our waters.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database collects compliance and enforcement-related information for drinking water utilities nationwide. The list shows the towns that accumulated/accrued the violation points as of January to March 2017 in New Jersey

These are the locations that had "violation points," which are based on largely on the presence of contaminants and whether they exceeded health-based drinking water standards:

• Buttonwood Mobile Home Park, New Gretna 90
• Malaga Villa Apartments, Summit 45
• Rainbow Nursing Home Inc., Pittsgrove 35
• Sussex W Department, Sussex 35
• United Mobile Homes of Vineland, Jackson 20
• Mount Olive Township Water Department, Budd Lake 12
• Mount Olive Villages Water, Budd Lake 6
• Mount Olive Water Department, Goldmine System, Budd Lake 6
• Medford Twp Department, Medford 12
• Elmwood Park Water Department, Elmwood Park 12
• Holly Tree Acres System, Crofton 10
• West Milford Township Municipal Utilities Authority, Crescent Park, West Milford 7
• West Milford Township Municipal Utilities Authority, Olde Milford Estate, West Milford 7
• West Milford Township Municipal Utilities Authority - Birch Hill Park, West Milford 7
• West Milford Township Municipal Utilities Authority, West Milford 6
• West Milford Township Municipal Utilities Authority, Greenbrook Estates, West Milford 5
• West Milford Township Municipal Utilities Authority, Garden State Parkway, West Milford 5
• West Milford Township, Bald Eagle Village, West Milford 6
• Barnegat Light Water Department, Barnegat Light 6
• Dover Water Commission, Dover 6
• Lacey Twp MUA, Forked River 6
• Mercer County Correctional Center, West Trenton 5
• Cedar Glen West Water Company, Little Egg Harbor 5
• Bloomfield Water Department, Bloomfield 5
• Hammonton Water Department, Hammonton 5
• Aqua NJ - Tranquility Springs, Phillipsburg 5
• Highland Park Water Department, Highland Park 5
• Manor Water Associations, Mantua 5
• Presidential Courts Mobile Home Park, Green Creek 5
• Sisters of Christian Charity, Mendham 5
• Wallington Water Department, Wallington 4
• Belmar Water Department, Belmar 3
• South River Water Department, South River 3
• South Orange Water Department, South Orange 3
• Totowa Water Department, Totowa 2
• Lyndhurst Water Department Lyndhurst 2
• Stone Harbor Water Department, Stone Harbor 2
• Clinton Water Department, Clinton 2
• Pequannock Twp Water Department, Pompton Plains 2
• Rockaway Twp Water Department, Rockawa 2
• Verona Water Department, Verona 2
• Glassboro Water Department, Glassboro 2
• Freehold Twp Water Department, Keyport 2
• Ventnor City Water & Sewer Utility, Ventnor 2
• Middlesex Water Company, Iselin 2
• Freehold Borough Water, Freehold 2
• Park Ridge Water Department, Park Ridge 1
• East Orange Water Commission, East Orange 1
• Saddle Brook Water Department, Saddle Brook 1
• Belleville Water Department, Belleville 1
• JBMDL-Dix Main System, Mcguire AFB 1
• Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority, Bayonne 1
• Mahwah Water Department, Mahwah 1

In New Jersey, EWG tracked 93 contaminants across the state’s water supply. The following 11 contaminants have been detected above health limits:

• Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) (linked to bladder cancer, skin cancer and fetal development issues)
• Chloroform (linked to cancer and fetal development issues)
• Bromodichloromethane (linked to harm to child and fetuses, as well as reproductive difficulties)
• Radium-226 (linked to cancer)
• Radium-228 (linked to cancer)
• Dibromochloromethane (linked to cancer and harm to fetuses)
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, accelerated puberty, liver and immune system damage, and thyroid changes)
• Arsenic (linked to cancer)
• Bromate (linked to cancer)
• Chromium (hexavalent) (linked to cancer, liver damage and productive system damages)

These contaminants were detected above legal guidelines:

• Trihalomethanes (linked to bladder cancer, skin cancer and fetal development issues)
• Mercury (damages the kidneys and other internal organs)

Similar reports have found drinking-water violations throughout the state.

Read more: At Least 138 N.J. Towns Have Drinking Water Toxin Made Famous By Erin Brockovich: Study

“There are more than 250 contaminants across our nation’s drinking water,” said Leiba. “About 160 of those are unregulated. And that’s a big concern, because if a chemical is unregulated, that means it can be present in our water at any level — and be legal.” Most of the water in the United States comes from local utilities that measure contaminants in their water supply, but this data can be difficult to obtain. (More below)

Contaminants in your water

EWG has released a public database cataloguing contaminants in water systems in every state in the country — the first comprehensive database of its kind that took two years to build. First select the state where you live, and you'll see state-level data. For more local information, enter your zip code.

After you enter your zip code, you'll be directed to a page showing the water utilities in your county. Select your town to see which contaminants put your families at risk.

No single group has collected all this information for all 50 states in an easily searchable database — until now. And it’s incredibly easy to use it to see what contaminants are coming through your faucet.

What You Can Do

Once people know about the high levels of dangerous contaminants lurking in their water, the question becomes what they can do to protect their health.

”There’s a way to reduce those levels simply by buying a water filter,” said Leiba.

“We don’t want to scare the population by saying there are 250 chemicals and just leaving it there,” she continued. “As a consumer you may look at it and get a little overwhelmed.”

For this reason, EWG provides a guide to buying water filters. Its website allows you to search for filters that block particular chemicals and pollutants. If you find that your local water supply has a particularly high level of a dangerous chemical, you can search for a filter that blocks that substance.

There are many types of filters, including carbon filters, deionization filters and distillation filters. Each type has its own strengths and weakness, so sometimes a filter will include multiple filtration methods to eliminate more potential threats.

To find the most effective filter, look for certifications from the Water Quality Association and NSF International. Different filters remove different contaminants.

It’s important to remember, though, that even high-quality filters are not 100 percent effective.

“Filters don’t remove everything,” Scott Meschke, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at Washington University, told Patch. He emphasized that it’s important to make sure you’re using a filter that is designed to fit your local needs.

He also said that users should change water filters on a regular basis. Old filters that are never replaced can host bacterial, which also pose potential dangers.

People who don’t get their water through a public utility will have different needs.

“If you are on a private well, I would say that you need to be monitoring your water. You should be paying on a regular basis to have it tested,” Meschke said.

With reporting by Cody Fenwick

Patch file photo