Nothing comes easy for Trenton Water Works.
Thursday started well for Trenton’s controversy-ridden water system, with a win in court as part of proceedings from a lawsuit brought by state regulators. It was an early victory in a legal battle that threatens to take the system out of city control.
A few hours later, however, the utility was dealt a mixed hand by the Trenton city council, which approved $50 million for much needed improvements but rejected tens of millions in other funding requested by the water system.
On Thursday morning, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy rejected the state’s request for a court order that would’ve forced Trenton Water Works to greatly accelerate lead service line replacements.
Lead service lines, garden hose-sized pipes that connect individual properties to water mains under the streets, are at the heart of lead problems in Trenton and water systems across the state.
MORE: See our comic that draws out how lead got into drinking water across N.J.
Trenton Water Works, the 200-year-old city-owned utility which serves about 217,000 people in Trenton and four neighboring suburbs, was found to have high lead levels in its water during three of four monitoring periods between 2017 and 2018.
Those violations led the water system to enter into an administrative consent order with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which set deadlines for TWW to inventory the number of lead service lines in its system, to begin replacing those lines and to implement new corrosion control treatment as an interim solution.
That process got off to a rough start. Trenton was fined $13,000 by the DEP in 2018 for delays in dealing with the lead service lines.
Concrete progress was seen last year, when TWW began using a new corrosion control treatment. In January, the utility began replacing 36,000 lead service lines. The replacement work is expected to cost $150 million and take five years. TWW initially had $15 million available for the project, and the city council approved another $25 million at its May 7 meeting.
The water system has not had a lead level exceedance since the end of 2018.
TWW has also fallen behind on another DEP order, which directs the utility to cover or replace the outdated Pennington Reservoir.
The DEP sued Trenton and TWW in June over the water system’s ongoing problems. Hamilton Township, Lawrence and Ewing — all of which are TWW customers — then joined the complaint against Trenton, seeking to force TWW out of city control.
Thursday’s decision was the first round in that legal fight.
The state was seeking an injunction to force Trenton and TWW to replace 7% of its lead service lines by the end of December, 7% more by the end of March 2021 and another 7% by June 2021.
It was unclear what total number those percentages would be drawn from — Trenton has maintained that it estimates there are 36,000 lines that need to be replaced in the city, but state argued on Thursday that the number may be as high as 57,000.
Lougy rejected that request partly because he doubted that timeline was achievable. Lougy also said the state failed to establish irreparable harm due to potential future lead exceedances.
“It’s not horseshoes," Lougy said. "If they haven’t been in violation of the levels under the current replacement level pace, which the court by no means endorses the lack of process to date, that doesn’t mean the continued pace is likely to produce imminent and concrete harm.”
A spokesman for the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General declined to comment.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora told NJ Advance Media he was glad to hear the court’s decision, and that he’s confident the city will prevail in the case and retain control of TWW.
“We think it was a good decision for Trenton and the water works company," Gusciora said. "We get it, that we have to continue on with the lead service lines, but it will be at a more realistic pace.”
The Trenton City Council was more split on its TWW decisions on Thursday evening.
In two votes, the council approved $50 million in bonds to fund improvements to TWW infrastructure, but rejected $33.5 million more.
The $50 million bond dedicates $20 million to upgrading water meters in the system and $30 million for building new water tanks to help replace the Pennington Reservoir.
That measure passed on a 5-2 vote, with Council President Kathy McBride delivering the key vote. McBride, who has consistently opposed funding requests for TWW, said she voted yeas on this bond because of the urgent need to deal with the reservoir.
The other bond would’ve authorized $33.5 million to fund various capital projects. The bond required a five vote supermajority, and failed on a 4-3 vote with McBride, Councilwoman Robin Vaughn and Councilman Santiago Rodriguez voting no.
All three of the bond opponents expressed concerns about the size of the bonds. McBride specifically said she believed that the first bond could easily be reduced by $25 million.
“The only things we should be considering is $7 million," McBride said. "The rest is just cosmetic.”
Councilman Jerell Blakely, who has consistently supported bond ordinance to fund TWW, said the council put the city’s future control of the water system at risk by not approving the investments.
“If we ever lose control of the Trenton Water Works, I want you to remember my three colleagues that voted no to this,” Blakely said. “And I want you to leave it at their feet.”
The council did approve a $250,000 contract with Park Ridge-based firm Grassi and Co. to conduct a forensic audit of the city’s water and sewer department. Such an audit has long been sought by McBride and opposed by the Gusciora administration.
The council also approved the purchase of a property near the Pennington Reservoir to serve as the site for a 16 million gallon storage tank. Once that tank is built, the water system will be able to move forward with renovating or replacing the reservoir and fulfilling the outstanding DEP order, according to acting TWW director Mark Lavenberg.
That resolution was passed on a 5-2 vote, with McBride and Rodriguez in opposition. McBride took issue with the fact that no community outreach has been done to inform nearby residents that a large structure is likely to be built on the lot.
“This is a hot mess here," McBride said. "Voting to purchase property, and there’s a row of homeowners and none of them know it’s coming.”
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Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.
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