New Jersey emergency planners brace for possible water shutdown as Trenton mains keep breaking, reservoir levels drop

Emergency management officials in the state capital are bracing for the possible collapse of water service in the coming days as Trenton continues to battle multiple water main breaks and plummeting water levels at the city’s Pennington Avenue reservoir.

Managers of government buildings were told late Wednesday to review plans for the emergency closure of offices in the case of sudden water-pressure collapse and the loss of restroom service and firefighting protection.

They were also pulling together lists of bottled water suppliers and checking on vendors who could provide emergency restroom trailers. Managers were also told to be on the lookout for any water problems over the coming weekend and to report them immediately to the state Office of Emergency Management.

The precautionary measures were outlined in an email sent to state officials by Christopher Dempsey, the Department of the Treasury’s emergency response coordinator.

The email, obtained Thursday by The Jersey Vindicator, said the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), is now tracking more than 30 water main breaks in Trenton that have drained water supplies at the city’s reservoir to dangerous levels.

“The water is going out faster than it’s coming in … due to multiple water main breaks,” said the email. “Last night [DEP] triggered an emergency alert and has asked Treasury to review our plans in the event emergency action is needed.”

“Water levels are trending down even with emergency interconnects activated,” the message went on. “This weekend and next week we will see impacts if mains can’t get fixed.”

Operators of the Trenton Water Works, the troubled agency that serves 225,000 people in the state capital and four suburban communities in nearby Mercer County, sought to play down the sense of crisis that has mounted in recent weeks amid crippling water main breaks that have submerged streets and sidewalks in solid ice.

In a statement sent out Thursday afternoon, the utility noted that temperatures were rising and the reservoir still had enough water for the next 2 1/2 days. The water filtration plant on the Delaware River, bedeviled by a balky intake system, was still putting out 37 million gallons of finished drinking water every day, according to the agency.

“At this hour…the temperature is 36 degrees and the water plant is operating normally and meeting service area demand,” wrote Michael Walker, the utility spokesman.

“Our distribution personnel and contract vendors will …. continue to address water main breaks throughout the system, including a six-inch main break on Parkway Avenue in Ewing Township between Greenway and Latona Avenues,” Walker added.

The message was addressed to local mayors and the state, as well as emergency management officials.

Just a few minutes after Walker’s message was sent out on Thursday, news of another major collapse on the streets of Trenton came from Reed Gusciora, Trenton’s two-term mayor, who was elected in 2018 on a promise to address historic inefficiencies and corruption at the water utility.

Gusciora, in a prepared statement, revealed that a major underground “infrastructure failure” at one of Trenton’s busiest intersections would take months to repair and force motorists to cope without working traffic signals.

The mayor did not explain the causes of the subterranean collapse at the busy “five points” intersection of West State Street with West Hanover, Prospect, and Spring streets. But the intersection is less than a block from the site of a major water main break on West State Street, where traffic was blocked for days as workers sought to control the disaster in subfreezing temperatures.

Gusciora said traffic lights at the intersection failed after subterranean electrical service was damaged irreparably.

“Multiple sections of conduit beneath the roadway have collapsed and crushed, severely damaging the wiring that powers the signal system,” the mayor said. “After extensive investigation by [the] City, private contractors, Mercer County, and NJDOT representatives, it was determined that the system is beyond repair.”

Trenton’s water crisis, which experts say has mounted over decades of mismanagement and neglect, came to a head last summer when state environmental officials called for an end to the city’s control of the agency.

Suburban water users served by the agency have joined the state in a lawsuit seeking to force Trenton Water to comply with state and federal water treatment standards. City officials acknowledge longstanding issues with the utility, but say they are now moving rapidly ahead with a $750 million capital improvement plan, and that water currently meets all treatment standards.