NJ PEER recently filed a petition to force the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop rules to require public disclosure, monitoring, and treatment for over 500 currently unregulated chemicals detected by DEP in NJ public water supplies (to read the petition, click here).
DEP has known for years that our water supplies are polluted by over 500 unregulated chemicals, with unknown health risk. (for example, the chemicals linked to a childhood cancer cluster in Toms River were unregulated, and they still are).
It is way past time that DEP take regulatory action to reduce health risks, warn the public about the problem, and require currrently available treatment technologies to clean up our water supplies.
The scientific basis for the petition is DEP’s own policy paper:
To read the PEER press release and supporting documents, click here.
Public notice of the petition was published in the October 18, NJ Register (See below).
DEP will be making a decision on the petition in the next 30 days. DEP needs to hear from you!
We urge our environmental group colleagues and their members to endorse the petition and to lobby DEP Commissioner Martin to approve the petition.
We urge readers to email Bob.Martin@DEP.State.NJ.US or write to DEP Commissioner Martin in support of the petition at:
Bob Martin, Commissioner NJDEP
401 East State Street, CN 001
Trenton NJ 08625