SR133

A Senate Resolution urging Suez North America to aggressively replace its lead service lines and urging certain State entities to hold the company accountable to aggressively replace those service lines.

Whereas, Suez North America is an American water service company headquartered in Paramus, New Jersey, that serves approximately 1.5 million customers in the State; and

Whereas, The provision of clean drinking water is one of the most important services that Suez North America provides to its customers in New Jersey; and

Whereas, Suez North America’s most recent random water samplings taken from July 2018 to December 2018 showed dangerous levels of lead in the water in a percentage of homes tested due to the existence of lead in older service lines; and

Whereas, Lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children; and

Whereas, Water quality for all New Jersey residents should be of paramount importance as a basic human right and the customers of Suez North America in New Jersey deserve a clean, safe source of water; and

Whereas, Suez North America has identified approximately 8,600 customers who have lead service lines owned by the company; and

Whereas, Due to the presence of dangerous levels of lead in these service lines, Suez North America reached a tentative agreement with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to replace only seven percent of these lead services lines annually; and

Whereas, This lead service line replacement plan tentatively agreed to by Suez North America and the NJDEP is to take nearly 15 years to replace all of the lead service lines; and

Whereas, A replacement plan that takes more than a decade to address what is a public health crisis is untenable, irresponsible, unsafe, and unfair to Suez North America customers in New Jersey; and

Whereas, Suez North America should commit to an aggressive replacement program for the removal of all lead service lines the company owns in as short a timeframe as possible; and

Whereas, This House calls on the Governor, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, and the President of the Board of Public Utilities to hold Suez North America accountable and demand that they commit to an aggressive replacement plan for all lead service lines it owns; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:

1. This House urges Suez North America to take action to safeguard the drinking water of its New Jersey customers by replacing all of its lead service lines in as short a time frame as possible.

2. This House urges the Governor, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, and the President of the Board of Public Utilities to hold Suez North America accountable and demand that the company commits to an aggressive replacement plan for all its lead service lines.

3. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Governor, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, the President of the Board of Public Utilities, the Chief Executive Officer of Suez North America, and Suez North America’s corporate headquarters.

STATEMENT

This resolution urges Suez North America (Suez) to aggressively replace its lead service lines in New Jersey and urges certain State entities to hold the company accountable to aggressively replace those service lines. Suez’s most recent random samplings taken from July 2018 to December 2018 showed dangerous levels of lead in the water in a percentage of homes tested due to the existence of lead in older service lines. Lead can cause serious health problems if too much enters the body from drinking water or other sources. The greatest risk of lead exposure is to infants, young children, and pregnant women.

Due to the presence of dangerous levels of lead in some drinking water in the State, Suez has reached a tentative agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection to replace only seven percent of lead service lines annually. This lead service line replacement plan is to take nearly 15 years to complete. The customers of Suez in New Jersey deserve a clean, safe source of water and water quality for all New Jersey residents should be of paramount importance as a basic human right. Suez should be held accountable and commit to an aggressive replacement plan for all its lead service lines.