Tapped out: No quick fix in sight for Trenton water crisis

Six months after state consultants found the Trenton Water Works on the brink of collapse, the utility that serves 220,000 Mercer County residents remains strapped for cash, struggling to find qualified workers and unable to make essential management reforms.

Of a half-dozen major operational changes recommended by state experts, none are close to completion. Others may take months or years to put in place, according to documents and interviews with local officials involved in talks to reform the agency.

Action on what is seen as the utility’s most pressing need — the creation of a new governing structure that would address the concerns of suburban customers affected by poor water quality — appears unlikely anytime soon.

A regional utility jointly directed by the city of Trenton and four surrounding communities wouldn’t debut until at least July 2027 under a state plan that would be put together by yet another consulting firm to be hired by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

But Trenton officials, who signed off on the new consultant, insist that a new regional authority won’t happen without the consent of the Trenton City Council and the city’s 90,000 residents. A new public referendum on the issue is possible, local officials say.

In 2010, Trenton voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal from New Jersey American Water Co. to buy part of Trenton’s water works for $80 million. More than 80% of voters said no to the plan, despite a $1.2 million ad campaign by supporters.

“The state can study this all they want, but we have the final say,” Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said in an interview with The Jersey Vindicator. “The water works is our asset, and it’s been our asset for 200 years. I haven’t seen anybody yet come up with an offer to pay us for taking it, and make no mistake, this would be a taking.”

Trenton Water draws about 30 million gallons a day from the Delaware River and treats it at its filtration plant on Route 29 in the shadow of the New Jersey Statehouse. From there, water is pumped through 680 miles of water mains to customers in Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrenceville and Hopewell.

Parts of the water system, which contains three pumping stations, a reservoir and more than 3,500 fire hydrants, are more than 100 years old. Stagnant water collects in dead-end pipes that should have been replaced years ago.

Human pathogens found breeding in the system, including the microbe that causes Legionnaires’ disease, have been found responsible for at least seven deaths in communities using Trenton’s water. In a 2022 administrative order placing Trenton Water Works under state oversight, regulators cited pathogens in the water system as one of many “longstanding” compliance failures.

Trenton Water “has failed to properly maintain critical treatment processes, monitor water quality, employ adequately trained operating personnel, and invest in required maintenance and capital needs,” the order said.

Ewing Township Mayor Bert Steinmann said that the utility’s well-documented failures “underscore a persistent inability of TWW to uphold its responsibilities.”

“It’s long past time that we fix this agency and do whatever is necessary to make sure that all residents get the good water they deserve,” Steinmann said.

While everyone wants Trenton Water to be fixed, progress remains painfully slow. Officials say many of the solutions floated by the state’s experts earlier this year are out of reach without a large infusion of money and talent that are scarce in Trenton.

Among the key recommendations that remain stalled:

• Ending the Trenton-only residency requirement for new employees. The requirement hinders the water utility and other city agencies from finding qualified workers, especially for technical jobs and other skilled posts. Critics say the residency rule fosters political patronage. (Editor’s note: In 2014, the Trenton City Council amended the ordinance requiring employees to be residents of the city, granting residency waivers for positions needing licenses or certifications as required by state departments.)
• Creating the positions of executive director and regulatory compliance officer. Workers interviewed by the state consultants said lines of authority were muddled and responsibilities for key tasks, such as reporting water quality to the state, were unclear.
• Removal of Edmund Johnson, the water plant’s lead licensed operator, from his job. The consultants found that Johnson, who is one of the agency’s highest-paid employees, should hold no position at the agency. “Mr. Johnson is unqualified to serve as compliance officer or any other role at Trenton Water Works,” the report said.
• Recruiting a chief accountant, a budget officer, and necessary lab personnel to maintain the integrity of water testing.

Gusciora said action on a good part of the recommendations will have to wait until the city finds a way to recruit and pay for more qualified employees. He also said state bureaucracy ties the city’s hands from making some managerial changes, such as the hiring of a new executive director with authority over both sewer and water operations.

The mayor also dismissed some of the expert findings as mere “opinions” that were not based on fact. On Johnson, for example, Gusciora said he saw no reason to dismiss the plant operator.

Johnson is one of the highest-paid employees of the water utility, according to payroll data for 2023 obtained through a public records request by The Jersey Vindicator. The data show Johnson received $169,776 in total pay that year, including $42,300 in “standby pay,” $12,700 in “longevity pay,” $2,600 in “comp time,” $2,100 for “funeral leave” and thousands more in “personal” pay, “holiday hours” and miscellaneous payouts.

Michel Walker, a spokesman for the water utility, said Johnson was not available for an interview. He said he had “no information” about Johnson’s salary in 2024 or 2025 or if he received a raise in the past two years.

“The consultant says he [Johnson] is unqualified, but that’s just one person’s opinion,” Gusciora said. “I don’t know he’s done anything wrong.” Finding a new plant operator with the necessary state certifications is difficult, he said. “They’re hard to come by in the state of New Jersey,” he added.

Among Trenton Water’s biggest issues, the consultants found, was a huge backlog of unfunded capital projects ranging from replacing the city’s open-air reservoir to systemwide security upgrades. The city needs to spend almost $50 million this year and more than $400 million over the next six to 10 years on key capital projects.

Officials say much of this work has begun, such as the installation of new water meters and agitators to move stagnant water in some areas of the distribution system that are prone to accumulating toxic decontamination chemicals. The buildup of these chemicals resulted in systemwide boil-water advisories in recent years.

New borrowing recently approved by the City Council will allow Trenton Water Works to resume replacing lead service pipes leading to homes and businesses. The program, which will cost over $250 million, resulted from a state mandate that calls for all communities to remove lead water lines by 2031. It’s being paid for through state and federal grants and loans.

“We’re about one-third done replacing pipes throughout the system, but we’re going to get done by the deadline,” Gusciora said.

In January, following the release of one of the long-awaited consulting reports, Gusciora and his suburban counterparts issued a joint statement saying they were already planning a “public campaign” outlining how a new regional utility would work and how much Trenton would be compensated for ceding control.

Following a meeting of the mayors in March, the Department of Environmental Protection began looking for a consultant who would explore how a new regional authority would work and how much it would cost to buy out Trenton. The agency issued a request for proposals and a Q&A report for potential bidders in April seeking submissions by the end of last month.

The winning firm, as the “project manager” for creating the new utility, would have the power to hire subcontractors and would be responsible for organizing public meetings and posting monthly progress reports.

“This will be an intensive two-year effort to move TWW to an alternate governance structure in that timeframe,” the state told prospective bidders.

Leaders of suburban communities around Trenton point out that they now represent the biggest part of the water utility’s customer base, some 55%. While they are more than willing to pay the city a fair price to buy into the historic waterworks, they say they can’t grow or attract business without reliable, clean drinking water.

Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin said he understood the political obstacles of ending Trenton’s control of the agency. But he said the financial strength and borrowing power of a new regional water authority would benefit everyone.

“We all have a common interest in making the improvements that need to be done,” Martin said. “Everyone can be a winner here.”