Schools

Lead in Water: New Database Shows Many NJ Schools Had Too Much

At least 61 NJ school districts have had too much lead in their water, a new state database says. See if your district is on the list.

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NEW JERSEY – The state has released a new database showing at least 61 school districts had too much lead discovered in their water in recent years– and many of the problems were not just uncovered in towns with aging pipes.

The database also allows anyone to look up their own district to see the results of the most recent testing.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Thursday that the New Jersey Department of Education has launched a centralized database with lead-testing information from school districts.

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Below is a list of Patch communities in New Jersey that had levels exceeding the government standards for lead discovered in their most recent testing, as well as links to the remediation action that was taken.

This initiative is part of a three-pronged approach announced last month by Murphy, alongside Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-Bergen, to strengthen the state’s response to lead testing and the remediation of elevated lead levels in drinking water in New Jersey schools.

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“New Jersey’s aging water infrastructure has sparked a statewide conversation on the best way forward to protect residents from the dangers of lead exposure,” said Murphy.

The centralized, state-managed database provides water quality information reported by school entities, including whether any samples exceeded the permissible lead action level, the date of the most recent sampling, a link to the full sampling results, and contact information for the school district or other school entity.

The statewide database of lead testing summaries is hosted on the New Jersey Department of Education’s Lead Testing webpage and will be updated on a rolling basis as the Department receives information from additional school entities.

Lead testing summaries will be updated when the new testing cycle begins in the 2021-2022 school year. Moving forward, the Department of Education will collaborate with Department of Environmental Protection to modernize the data collection and reporting process for school drinking water lead testing.

In addition to establishing the centralized database, Murphy’s three-pronged approach to enhance the State’s response and transparency to lead testing and the remediation of elevated lead levels in drinking water in New Jersey schools includes the following initiatives:

  • To ensure timely detection of elevated lead levels, the Department of Education will move to strengthen its Safe Drinking Water regulations by requiring schools to test for lead every three years, rather than the current requirement of every six years.
  • These regulations will also include enhanced enforcement measures against non-compliant school entities, such as public reporting of districts that are out of compliance, penalties imposed during the district’s review, and investigation by the Department’s Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance.
  • In addition, the Murphy administration will prioritize remediation projects for school entities with lead-level exceedances using $100 million in voter-approved bond funding for school water infrastructure improvement projects through the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act.

“By mobilizing the state’s resources to modernize reporting mechanisms and increase public transparency, we are fulfilling our commitment to ensure New Jersey’s children and educators have access to clean, safe drinking water in our schools,” Murphy said.

Atlantic

Bergen

Camden

Essex

Gloucester

Hudson

Hunterdon

Mercer

Middlesex

Monmouth

Morris

Ocean

Somerset

Sussex

Union

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