Published in the Asbury Park Press
BY JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER — United Water Toms River has some fences to mend.
Two weeks after water company officials revealed that United had failed to disclose seven instances of elevated levels of naturally occurring radiation in its system during 2005, the company, as it was told by Dover Township Mayor Paul C. Brush, "has no credibility with township officials or with the public you serve."
"We have reached a point in this town where people are concerned about drinking their water," Brush said. "We have reached a crisis."
Township Council President Gregory P. McGuckin said, "There has not been a single rational explanation for what happened other than "our corporate office didn't know what they were doing down here.' "
United officials have apologized repeatedly over the past two weeks, insisting that their Toms River office's failure to disclose the elevated radiation levels is an aberration and not reflective of the way the company normally does business.
A new general manager, Nadine Leslie, has replaced George Flegal as head of the Toms River office, and an internal investigation is ongoing to determine why company officials in Toms River did not report the elevated radiation levels to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the public, as required by law. Last week, the DEP fined United $64,000 for the violations, the company's second fine in less than six months.
In October, the DEP fined United $104,000 for exceeding its state water allocation permit in three of the past five years, and for constructing water main extensions without a state permit from 1997 to 2005.
"No immediate risk"
When asked about potential health effects of drinking water with elevated radiation levels, United spokesman Richard Henning noted that federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines say that consuming water at maximum allowable radiation levels poses "no immediate risk."
"They are saying there is no immediate health threat," Henning said. "United Water is not telling you that the water is safe. That language comes from EPA."
Most water in United's system is blended, so that the water reaching customers' homes is actually a combination of water from several different sources.
Because the drinking water is blended, Henning said, the large majority of United's customers would not have ingested water that exceeded allowable levels of radiation. Some customers whose homes are closest to the wells with elevated radiation levels might have received water containing radiation above the maximum allowable level, he explained.
The EPA has estimated that the additional lifetime risk associated with drinking water that contains the maximum allowable level of radiation at about 1 in 10,000. This means that if 10,000 people consumed two liters of water per day for 70 years, one additional fatal cancer could be expected in the 10,000 people exposed.
Henning said the water company plans to share future testing data directly with township officials, as well as the DEP.
The water company's answers as to how the Toms River office failed to provide notification have not satisfied township officials, who are still discussing possible action against United, including filing a petition with the state Board of Public Utilities. McGuckin said council members are likely to decide Feb. 28 what action to take against United.
The township filed petitions against the water company with the BPU in 1991 and 1997.
Those petitions accused the company of failing to provide adequate and safe drinking water here. The 1991 petition was filed against the Toms River Water Co., which was purchased in 1994 by United Water Resources of Harrington Park.
The 1997 petition also challenged the validity of United's franchise with Dover.
Settlements were reached in both cases, and each time, the water company agreed to increase water storage and pumping capacity.
Citizens group frustrated
To members of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster, who have been questioning water company officials about water testing and allocation issues for years, the news of elevated radiation levels is only the latest example of what they believe is United's failure to release important information to the public in a timely manner.
"This has been going on for the 10 years that we have been involved in this investigation," said Citizens Committee Chairwoman Linda L. Gillick, referring to the decade since the start of the childhood cancer investigation here. "There is something very wrong here that this is allowed to continue to happen. The people who are in charge here, and that includes the DEP and the DOH (Department of Health), it is their responsibility to make sure that we are getting the information we need."
Citizens Committee member Kevin Root echoed Gillick's comments, saying the committee has been continually frustrated by the water company's failure to disclose information that would help residents make more informed decisions about their drinking water.
Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/21/06
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