While I appreciate the Lawrence Township mayor’s response to the
ongoing events with the Trenton Water Works
, I feel this is a little late and without strategy or direction.
These problems have been an issue throughout 2017 and continue this year. Management at TWW has repeatedly claimed they are working with the DEP to resolve all issues. Obviously this has not been the case, as problems continues to surface in 2018.
This last water threat was serious enough for neighboring communities to contact their residents, some going door to door!
But where was the timely response from Lawrence? The first notice from TWW identified a significant issue in my opinion—higher than normal levels of haloacedic acid 5 (linked to increase in cancer) was issued on Jan. 5. No immediate response from Lawrence. Then again on Jan. 15, a boil water notice came from the DEP after a 5 a.m. malfunction at TWW. No news from TWW. But surrounding communities issued notices that afternoon, and a Ewing staffer even went door to door to alert residents. Where was Lawrence? They waited until late that evening to send out an alert.
The mayor wants us to be assured they are on top of this issue, but how can we feel confident about this when we weren’t informed of these serious issues in the past? Why weren’t we informed as other communities’ residents were? What is the process moving forward? Why aren’t we working with surrounding communities to get to get consistent information to all TWW customers? Why is our mayor relying on discussions with the Trenton mayor when TWW is right down the road from the mayor’s office, and he can’t get timely information? Why is our mayor also relying on information from the TWW when the DEP can’t get a straight answer from them?
Mayor Bobbitt—let’s get on top of this. You owe it to your residents.
— Marie S. Tuccillo
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