Photo by Chris Sykes
A group of East Orange residents make some of their issues and concerns known to the new members of the East Orange Water Commission commissioners at its July 8 meeting. East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor has replaced four of the five commissioners and says the body will now be more open and responsive.
EAST ORANGE — Last week, acting New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman announced that William Mowell, 52, of Wyckoff, the former East Orange Water Commission assistant executive director, has pleaded guilty to falsifying water-safety test results in order to report lower levels of the contaminant tetrachloroethylene, a probable carcinogen.
On Friday, July 25, Hoffman said Mowell pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree conspiracy before Essex County Superior Court Judge Carolyn Wright; Mowell was indicted Feb. 12, 2013, along with former EOWC Executive Director Harry L. Mansmann. Mansmann is now deceased.
According to Hoffman, Mowell pleaded guilty to a charge that he conspired to engage in a pattern of official misconduct, tamper with public records, and violate both the New Jersey Safe Drinking Water Act and the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Mowell be sentenced to three years in state prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7.
“Mowell had a duty to ensure the quality and safety of the drinking water supplied to tens of thousands of residents, and instead, he deliberately falsified test results to cover up elevated levels of a potential carcinogen,” Hoffman said in his July 25 statement. “He showed a complete disregard for the people he served and the harm that might have resulted from his conduct.”
State Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig said the charges against Mowell stemmed from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice, which began with a referral from the state Department of Environmental Protection Compliance and Enforcement program. In pleading guilty, Honig said Mowell admitted to conspiring with Mansmann to falsify mandatory testing of the EOWC water supply to hide elevated levels of tetrachloroethylene, an industrial solvent used for dry cleaning and other purposes, and which the NJDEP classifies as a probable carcinogen.
According to South Orange Village President Alex Torpey, whose municipality receives water from the EOWC, “It’s a good thing to see the legal proceedings moving forward toward some justice for someone who betrayed the public trust. Hopefully a strong punishment will serve in part to deter others.”
And on Monday, July 28, East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor gave an official response to the news of Mowell’s guilty plea, condemning Mowell’s admitted misdeeds and those allegedly committed by Mansmann.
“The admission by the former assistant executive director of the East Orange Water Commission, William Mowell, is extremely upsetting and despicable,” Taylor said. “Despite Mr. Mowell’s recent admission, I’d like to ensure our residents and surrounding municipalities that the water quality in the city of East Orange is safe, and I am working collaboratively with the East Orange Water commissioners to ensure that our most important asset is properly managed and back on the road to financial stability,” Taylor said.
Taylor recently asked four of the five sitting EOWC commissioners to resign their appointments. On Saturday, June 14, he asked EOWC board President Roger Rucks, and commissioners R. Greg Ward, Darryl C. Walls and Khalid Wright to step down from the five-member body in light of “gross mismanagement” and the debts and infrastructure issues facing the city’s water supply.
Ward and Rucks refused refused to resign. However, Taylor replaced all four with new appointees. On July 3 he appointed Chris Coke, East Orange’s current director of public works; Michele Antley, of the 1st Ward; Ayeshia Govan, of the 2nd Ward; and Melinda Hawkins Taylor, of the 5th Ward, to the EOWC board.
Coke was appointed to serve as acting interim executive director of the EOWC and Antley will serve as chairwoman. Calls and text messages seeking comments from Ward and Rucks about Mowell’s guilty plea were not returned by press time this week.
East Orange 2nd Ward Councilwoman Jacqueline Johnson, the current chairwoman of the East Orange City Council’s Utilities Committee, is the East Orange City Council’s liaison to the EOWC. Johnson was serving in that same capacity last year when Mansmann and Mowell were arrested and indicted, and when the EOWC held a special public forum inside the Council Chamber in City Hall on March 6, 2013, to discuss the allegations against them. Calls to Johnson seeking comment about Mowell’s guilty plea were not returned by press time this week.
“I’ve spoken with the new mayor of East Orange, who by all accounts is taking this matter incredibly seriously and making significant changes to fix the problem that is what EOWC has become,” Torpey said. “I know this issue is important to him and his community, and he knows how important it is to us, and will be keeping us updated on their progress.”
According to Hoffman’s July 25 announcement, the EOWC supplies drinking water to East Orange and also has a contract to supply drinking water to South Orange. The water is pumped from well fields in eastern Morris and western Essex counties through a pumping station in Millburn to two reservoirs, from which water is distributed to customers.
The EOWC blends water from its various wells at its treatment plant before water is distributed to customers in East Orange and South Orange. According to Hoffman, the EOWC had encountered problems with elevated levels of tetrachloroethylene, or PERC, in several wells. Mowell admitted to collecting water samples for testing after the contaminated wells had been turned off for several days. He admitted to knowing the test results would therefore not accurately reflect the condition of the water supply once the wells were turned back on for pumping to the reservoir.
“In this manner, (Mowell) falsified test results to comply with the DEP requirement that the running annual average level of PERC under normal operating conditions not exceed 1 microgram per liter or part per billion, however results up to 1.49 ug/L are rounded down to 1,” Hoffman said July 25. “The false sampling occurred in March and April 2011. The state’s investigation also revealed that the defendants, in an effort to flush out PERC, directed that the well with the most contamination — which had been found to have PERC levels as high as 25 times the permitted level under the New Jersey Safe Drinking Water Act and nearly twice the level permitted for discharges in connection with remediation projects under the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act — be pumped to a pipe that discharged directly onto the bank of the Passaic River in Florham Park, from March 24 through April 20, 2011.”
With his guilty plea, Mowell admitted that he and Mansmann had water from that well pumped to the bank of the river during that period. And when the DEP required the EOWC to issue a public notice about noncompliant PERC levels in the system, he and Mansmann issued a notice in July 2011 falsely stating that the EOWC had reduced pumping from certain wells on an ongoing basis and, as a result, tests during the first half of 2011 revealed levels to be under the DEP limit.
“In fact, they only reduced pumping from contaminated wells temporarily for sampling, and PERC levels had exceeded the limit,” Hoffman said on July 25. “By making it appear that the water system was in compliance with regulations, Mowell and Mansmann sought to enable the EOWC to avoid the need to build an expensive ‘air stripper’ water purification plant to remove volatile organic compounds — VOCs — including PERC, from the system’s water supply. The EOWC currently is proceeding with plans to build such a treatment plant.
“The DEP has done independent testing of the East Orange water system, showing the water quality for residents of East Orange and South Orange to be safe. The DEP is continuing to closely monitor the water system to ensure that continued safety.”
— Yael Katzwer contributed reporting to this story.