Opinions differ on who might pay for repairs

HOWELL — While waiting on second round test results of six homes that get their water from the Parkway Water Company, municipal officials have already heard from one customer who says Howell should bear the burden of remediation costs if they repairs are found to be necessary.

If the final results for scaling contamination determine that any homes in the Ramtown section are testing high enough to warrant a replacement of the structure’s pipes, Phil San Filippo, Iris Court, said Howell should pay for the replacement costs if the water company will not.

David Ern, one of the owners of the Marlboro-based privately owned water company, has already rejected the notion of the company paying any replacement costs.

In fact, if the pending sale of Parkway Water to the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA) does not go through as planned, Ern has already said the company will be forced to raise customer rates in order to meet the costs of purchasing water from other sources.

Howell officials hired Brinkerhoff Associates, Manasquan, to test the Ramtown homes. The testing followed the disclosure by the company almost two years ago that water from its sources was found to have been contaminated by radium.

According to officials, additional tests were needed due to the varying contamination levels detected in the homes that were tested in the first round, some more elevated than others. Altogether, six homes chosen at random from the Ramtown section of Howell were tested for pipe scaling due to radium contamination.

At a recent public meeting, San Filippo told the Township Council that if Howell can “come up with millions” to pay for a new municipal building and find money to build access roads to accommodate residents’ requests, then officials should be able to find some way to pay the costs that would be incurred by Ramtown residents who may need to replace contaminated pipes.

Council members had no response at the meeting to San Filippo’s assertion that the township is responsible for underwriting any replacement costs.

Opinions varied among the owners of the homes being tested when contacted by Greater Media Newspapers and apprised of San Filippo’s public remarks.

Geralyn Moss, Gladiola Drive, said she was “surprised” that San Filippo believed Howell would be responsible for any costs to replace contaminated pipes.

“This is a private company’s problem — my water came from them, not the township,” said Moss, adding, “anyway, that’s my thinking now.”

Lois Flynn, Joshua Court, said she thinks the township or “someone” should pay any remediation costs that may be necessary.

John Bogosian, Oak Terrace, said he would like to be “fair all around.” Bogosian said he thought relief in the form of a tax rebate either from the municipality or the state would be a way to help homeowners to meet any remediation costs.

The tests of the Ramtown homes is the latest in the Parkway Water Company saga that became a public concern almost two years ago. That was when the firm alerted its customers to the fact that some of its wells were found to be exceeding state standards for gross alpha radionuclide contamination. The contamination was due to the presence of radium 226 and radium 228.

— Kathy Baratta