Photo credit Bryan Anselm for The New York Times
By Michael Sol Warren and Karen Yi for NJ.com
Newark will receive a $120 million loan to fix its water woes in less than three years, officials said Monday, responding to growing public pressure and national attention to the city’s ongoing lead water crisis.
Flanked by Gov. Phil Murphy, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and other officials, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. announced the county will issue bonds to more quickly eliminate the 18,000 old pipes causing lead to leach into the drinking supply.
Newark’s lead service lines, which connect individual homes to underground mains, will now be replaced in 24-30 months, instead of over a decade.
“This challenge was too important to ignore, and I am happy that Essex is able to help,” DiVincenzo said.
The money will speed up the timeline on Newark’s original $75 million plan, which was scheduled to take eight years and began in March. So far, more than 770 pipes have been replaced, according to the city.
“I don’t want to wait that long,” DiVincenzo said. “I want this long-term solution to happen sooner rather than later.”
With the new county funds, Baraka said lead line replacement will be entirely free for homeowners. Under the original program, homeowners were on the hook for up to $1,000 each.
“With this new money, we’re anticipating that no one will have to pay anything to have their lead service lines replaced,” Baraka said. He added that the hundreds of homeowners who already had their lines replaced will not be billed for the work.
The Essex County Improvement Authority will issue bonds at no cost to county taxpayers. The Essex County Freeholders, the Newark City Council and the ECIA’s Board of Commissioners are all scheduled to vote on the bond ordinance Tuesday. If approved, the money will be available by fall.
Newark will pay the county $6.2 million annually for 30 years. Baraka, however, said Newark taxes will not increase to pay back the bond; he will seek state or federal funding to cover the debt.
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-10th Dist., said he’s consulted with U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan, who represents Flint, to find federal funding for Newark.
“I’m not starting from scratch. I have a program that has worked,” Payne said. “There were federal dollars that were allocated to Flint during this time, and I’m looking to recreate that for Newark.”
The $120 million bond will add to the$12 million the state already provided for the first phase of the program, bringing the total amount of committed funding to $132.2 million.
