Maplewood Township and New Jersey American Water held a community meeting Wednesday night to discuss the upcoming year of disruption that will take place as the utility replaces lead and galvanized lines throughout town.
Utilities are mandated by the state to replace utility-owned and customer-owned lead or galvanized pipes by 2031 and NJAW officials say Maplewood is one of its “top-priority towns” because of the high density of known lead lines and unknown lines, so the work will begin this month.
NJAW has identified 2,000 lead or galvanized pipes throughout Maplewood that need replacing and is looking to conduct tests on 3,000 with unknown composition to determine if they, too, must be removed. The process could take up to a year to complete.
RELATED: NJ American Water to Expedite Lead Line Replacement in Maplewood
Representatives from NJAW and its contractor Montana Construction, explained the neighborhood-by-neighborhood process and encouraged residents to make appointments to have their lines to their homes checked to determine whether they are lead or galvanized so the work on those lines could take place at the same time that the other lines are being replaced.
NJAW officials said that next week they will start sending out communications, including letters, postcards and door-hangers, most of which will also be translated into to Spanish and Creole, and canvassers with Montana Construction will be out in neighborhoods, looking to get residents help residents set up appointments to check their pipes to determine whether they’re lead or galvanized. Residents can also find more information on the NJAW website.
Township Administrator Patrick Wherry said the town is communicating closely with NJAW to represent the interest of Maplewood residents. “That means making sure we’re getting the right communication, both on their service line, the replacement work that’s happening on their street, what type of follow up happens afterwards,” he said.
“…There’s going to be road opening permits, and there’s going to be police direction, there’s going to be road closures,” he said, noting there will be a lot of public notification and communication around the impact of the work being done.
The sooner residents sign up to get their lines checked, the more efficient the process will be, said NJAW Project Manager Rich Conklin told residents. One resident asked if they have to replace the lead pipes, if they’re found. If they don’t, Conklin said, they will need to sign off on it so NJAW can tell the Department of Environmental Protection why the work wasn’t done.
Maplewood Engineer Paul J. Kittner, Jr. cautioned residents “to think twice” about turning down the lead line replacement since the lead lines could be a health hazardous and because NJAW is paying for this replacement now because of the state mandates. Later, he said, that won’t be the case.
“Normally, residents are responsible for these services,” he said. “…If your line is lead or galvanized, there’s a good chance it could be older and a good chance it could be leaking.”
Kittner also emphasized that the upcoming work will cause disruptions and delays and that the township “will do everything in our power to reduce that to the extent that we can work with NJAW and Montana on this. I encourage everyone to be patient with the process. Hopefully we can get this done in an efficient, fast manner so that it helps everyone.”
