BORDENTOWN CITY: Drinking water compromised but not a health risk

By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Managing Editor
   Water utility customers in the city, Bordentown Township and Fieldsboro received notice that their drinking water violated a state standard when it was recently tested for radionuclides.
   The City Water Department took the required quarterly samples for radionuclides at the point of entry to the city’s water distribution system on May 27. The results were received on July 10. The city sent water utility customers the radionuclide notice on July 22.
   The May 2014 test samples for the naturally-occurring “gross alpha particles” exceeded the allowable maximum contamination level threshold for these particles, creating a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection violation. The maximum contaminant level for the “gross alpha particles” is 15 picocuries per liter and the maximum level for combined radium 226 and 228 is 5 picocuries per liter. The drinking water had 17.40 picocuries of “gross alpha particles” per liter and the combined radium tested at 3.41 picocuries per liter, according to Water Treatment Facility Operator John Walls.
   These radionuclide particles do not pose a health emergency. The estimated health risks from low levels of radium are small, and short-term exposures pose an extremely small level of risk, according to Mr. Walls.
   There are no health risks associated with bathing, washing dishes or doing laundry with the water, he said. Some people who drink water containing radium 226 or 228 in excess of the maximum contaminant level over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer, according to Mr. Walls.
   Mayor Joseph Malone said, “I have no indication that there are any immediately health risks. I’m not a doctor but I’ve done enough reading and my understanding is that there is little or no health risk.”
   The test results are not due to improper water treatment, according to Mr. Walls. Radium is a radioactive metal that naturally occurs in trace amounts in groundwater.
   ”The city has authorized the preparation of an alternative cost analysis to determine the most cost effective method of remediation to include replacement wells, radium removal plant, and replacement of the plant filter media,” Mr. Walls wrote in the notice to water supply customers. “The city will incorporate the finding of this report in the development of a bond issue for the installation of a radium remediation system; the report is expected to be in place within 15 days of this notice. We will keep you, our customers, fully informed of the results of our continuing work to address this situation.”
   The mayor said the city is currently testing to find a higher-quality well and has hired a company to inspect the water treatment plant to determine what improvements, if any, should be made.
   ”Hopefully, the issue will be temporarily resolved in next couple months and long-term resolved within the coming year,” Mayor Malone said.
   For more information, contact either the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water hotline at 800-426-4791 or the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection of Water Supply at 609-292-5550.