The state Department of Environmental Protection on Friday slammed the city of Trenton's reaction to ongoing issues and water quality violations at their water utility, calling it a "continued failure."
In a letter from DEP Commissioner Bob Martin to Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson, Martin wrote: "The City's inability or unwillingness to act with the urgency the current situation requires potentially puts at risk the health of the 225,000 people (the utility serves)."
The utility, Trenton Water Works (TWW), provides water to the city and customers in portions of Hamilton, Ewing, Lawrence and Hopewell townships.
City spokesman Michael Walker said city and TWW officials continue to work on a "comprehensive plan to bolster operations at the Trenton Water Works" and are doing so with the DEP.
Martin's Friday letter follows another round of water quality failures at the utility recently that culminated in DEP violations, and an official notification to customers.
Among the recent troubles were a filter that wasn't working properly between Sept. 25 to Nov. 2, 2017 and samples that contain excessive levels of haloacetic acids, by-products of drinking water filtration systems using the chemical compound potassium permanganate.
The city's Jan. 5 letter to customers said the haloacetic acid levels are not an emergency and there is nothing customers need to do as a corrective action.
However, some who are exposed to high haloacetic acids over a long period of time may have an increased risk of getting cancer, the advisory said, and the city encouraged those with compromised immune systems, the elderly and those who are pregnant or have young children to contact their doctors about if it is safe for them to drink the water.
Martin's Friday letter said the DEP has been "exceedingly patient" with the city, but that Trenton officials are not following the steps he outlined in a Oct. 30, 2017 letter, nor in "several telephone conversations" as recently as last week.
State to Trenton: City's water utility needs help and you must act
In the Oct. 30 letter, and another letter, first reported by city resident Kevin Moriarty, who posted about them on his blog, Martin detailed DEP officials' concerns about gross under-staffing and a lack of leadership at Trenton Water Works.
The commissioner urged Jackson to bring in an outside agency to run the utility on a short and long-term basis, and provided deadlines. Martin wanted an emergency contract in place Nov. 30.
That hasn't happened, which Martin's Friday letter reminds the city.
Jackson told NJ Advance Media in early December the deadlines for an emergency contract were impossible, saying, government procurement processes, "Cannot move that fast."
Martin's latest letter also ripped the city for giving the DEP an "unacceptably incomplete" draft for a contract for one outside firm, and says another firm the city itself chose disappointingly fell through.
And he wrote that the DEP has every intention of enforcing the time penalties on the latest violations, which were hand delivered to the city Jan. 5.
In yet another reminder, Martin said the city is far behind and failed to make progress on a January 2014 administrative order to cover the utility's open-air reservoir in North Trenton.
The DEP said it has chosen not to file a Superior Court compliant, due to the few days left in the Gov. Christie administration, but Martin said he's already informed the new DEP commissioner nominee, Catherine McCabe, of the TWW situation, and the options she has for the "much needed corrective actions needed at TWW."
Said Walker, the city spokesman, "Transforming any complex operation such to maintain continuity of excellence in human resources, organizational performance and product is never an easy lift, but it is a goal that (Jackson) continues to strive for as we modernize all aspects of Trenton municipal government for the benefit our residents, our business community and our visitors."
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.