Mandatory Private Well Water Testing Proposal for New Jersey

Connor J. Healy and Migle Kavaliauskaite

ENVL 4300

Professor Chirenje

Stockton University

20 February 2018
Abstract

More than 400,000 private wells are in use in New Jersey. This accounts for more than a million
residents who rely on private well water. Current legislation, more specifically the New Jersey
Private Well Testing Act, only mandates testing of these wells when the property is being sold.
The top ten groundwater contaminants in New Jersey are: Benzene, Volatile Organics (VO),
Tentatively Identified Compounds (TICS), Lead, t-Butyl Alcohol (TBA), Methyl Tertiary Butyl
Ether (MTBE), Historic fill material, Trichloroethene (TCE), Tetrachloroethene (PCE), and
Arsenic. The voluntary testing of well water leaves many homeowners vulnerable to illnesses
contracted from drinking and using contaminated water. For this reason, private well testing
should be mandatory in the state of New Jersey, particularly in counties with high number of
industries. This report outlines the possible methods of implementation of this policy including a
yearly rotating testing schedule during which seven counties spread throughout the state are
tested for private well contamination. In addition, the report discusses possible public resistance
to mandatory testing and proposes initiatives for landowner cooperation and means to fund this
policy.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... i
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1
Groundwater Contamination in New Jersey ....................................................................................1
Proposed Private Well Water Testing ..............................................................................................3
Frequency and Method of Testing .......................................................................................3
Public Outreach and Funding...............................................................................................4
Resistance ............................................................................................................................5
Selling Points .......................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction

The New Jersey Private Well Testing Act (PWTA) was first implemented into law in
March 2001. This law requires potable wells to be tested when property is sold. Testing is paid
for by sellers or buyers (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2018). While this
is a good first step, it is not enough to protect the citizens of New Jersey from contracting
diseases and sickness from consuming contaminated and polluted well water, especially if water
is not tested for many years. Based on 2015 estimates, there were 400,000 private wells in the
State of New Jersey (Procopio, 2016.). That is 400,000 possible cases of contaminated drinking
water if we assume that homeowners do not engage in well water testing themselves. To limit the
number of drinking water illnesses and save homeowners’ and State’s money, a private well
water testing policy needs to be implemented. This implementation would not come without
wide opposition from private well owners. Those who currently test their wells might view it as
government overreach however, mandatory testing will be more in depth than cheaper at home
tests. Another argument could be that the water they pump is just for their use, but undetected
contamination near their wells could spread to municipally used water, thus affecting a wide
number of consumers. Allowing for the state to test private water wells allows for prompt
treatment, reducing the number of water related illnesses. This report outlines a possible private
well water testing plan for New Jersey including water sampling methods, funding, and selling
points to persuade residents to accept the new plan.

Groundwater Contamination in New Jersey

The top ten groundwater contaminants in New Jersey based on the 2018 New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) data were, in order of most to least frequent,
Benzene, Volatile Organics (VO), Tentatively Identified Compounds (TICS), Lead, t-Butyl
Alcohol (TBA), Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), Historic fill material, Trichloroethene
(TCE), Tetrachloroethene (PCE), and Arsenic. Figure 1 below illustrates the groundwater
contamination in the State.

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Figure 1: Map of known groundwater contamination and possible future groundwater
contamination sites in New Jersey.

All of the top ten contaminants listed above are found in every county except for Historic fill
material, which is not recorded in Warren County. A large portion of the contamination is
centered in counties that are nearby Philadelphia and New York City. Counties such as Hudson,
Union, Essex, Gloucester, Camden, and Burlington have numerous groundwater contamination
sites which contain arsenic, historic fill material, lead, benzene and TCE. These contaminants are
products of industrial activities. For example, arsenic is used in the production of textiles, glass,
and wood preservatives (World Health Organization, 2017); TCE is used to degrease metal parts
(Minnesota Department of Health); and benzene is released through the use of gasoline and
petroleum products (U.S. EPA, 2009). High density of industries in these counties result in
higher use of these chemicals and thus increased chance of contamination.

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Proposed Private Well Water Testing

Frequency and Method of Testing

Mandatory testing will be conducted on a rotating three year schedule. Seven counties
will be tested each year and tested again after two years. Figure 2 shows the counties selected for
testing during each of the three years. In order to cover the entire State during every year of
testing, counties were divided into Northern and Southern regions; four counties were chosen
from the North and three from the South, considering that more contamination was occuring in
the Northern region thus needing more frequent testing.

Figure 2: Groundwater contamination testing method for New Jersey. Stratified selection
method was chosen by dividing New Jersey into two regions and selecting counties to cover all
parts of the State.

There will be two options to well water testing. Considering a hypothetical expense of
$300 for water quality testing, option 1 will be for private well owners to obtain vials at their
local municipal building or County Health Department for a fee of $100, acquire a water sample

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from their well and submit it for testing. The remainder of the cost would have to be covered by
the State. Option 2 is to increase the property taxes for those homes that utilize private water
wells by $300. If the homeowner chooses to test their well water by either obtaining vials from
Health Departments (this time free of charge because the cost is included in their property taxes)
or they schedule an appointment for health officials to come and obtain water samples, the
homeowners will receive a $200 credit on their property taxes for the following year. In both
scenarios the homeowner pays the same amount but Option 2 allows for the State to make a
profit during cases when homeowners do not choose to test their water. This profit would help
offset the extra costs incurred by the State due to well water testing. The tests conducted will
look at all of the top ten contaminants (listed above) with emphasis on in the counties close to
New York City and Philadelphia due to the density of contaminated areas.

Public Outreach and Funding

Municipal water supply is mandatorily tested for many contaminants, so why should
private water supply testing not be mandatory? After all thousands of residents depend on it.
Understandably, there will be some resistance for the proposed testing. Educating those who are
resistant on the benefits of testing will be done through public forums, local news and media
outlets, as well as, sending pamphlets through the mail outlining the benefits of private well
testing. There are very little downsides to testing their wells. Spending $100 every three years
will end up being a lot less expensive than paying for hospital and doctor bills if a disease, like
cancer, is developed. If a pollutant is found in private wells, the NJDEP can offer grants to the
land owner to correct the problems with their wells. The state will obtain some of the necessary
funding for this project through the second option of our policy. In the case that homeowners
refuse to follow through with the testing, their taxes will be increased by $300 and the state will
keep that money to pay for this program. The state could also apply for Federal grants; and in the
long run, cleaner drinking water would offset some of the expenses incurred by the state by
lowering the amount spent on healthcare and the treatment of those who sustained water related
illnesses.

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 Resistance

The main issue with imposed private well water testing is the added costs to
homeowners. It can be argued that because they consume water from their own wells, they
should be able to choose when to test water quality. However, because underneath the surface
the water is connected to other wells the contamination is able to spread between wells, even if
the two wells are in different townships or counties. The homeowner may own the water pump
located on its property but the water still belongs to the United States. Another counterargument
to mandated water testing could be that the New Jersey Private Well Testing Act does not require
regular well testing, only in the event of selling the house on the property does well water have
to be tested and funded by the seller or buyer. If testing became mandatory, it could be viewed as
government overreach. Opposition could also come from those who already test their well water
using at home kits which are cheaper than what the State would require in the mandatory testing.
Lastly, those on the public water infrastructure could oppose this policy. The fact that those who
have wells on their property receive incentives for testing their water, while municipalities
charge monthly for water services delivered to those connected to the system.

Selling Points

In addition to the $200 credits that will be received upon testing their well water,
homeowners will also gain peace of mind, knowing that their water is uncontaminated and their
families are safe. Many of the pollutants found in well water can have immediate effects on
humans, if ingested in high enough levels. Benzene can cause vomiting, losing consciousness
and convulsions immediately after consuming something with high enough levels. Long-term
effects include Leukemia and even death. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013).
TCE exposure has been linked to an increased risk of an array of cancers, including “...kidney,
liver, cervix and the lymphatic system” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.). Volatile
Organics pollution can also lead to cancer in the long-term. (U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 2017). With the water testing broken down into a three year cycle, the state will only
have to worry about covering the cost for testing for seven counties each year. The cost will vary
from year to year, depending on the number of private wells in the counties that are being tested.

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References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Benzene. (February 2013). Retrieved February 17,
2018 from https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp

Minnesota Department of Health. TCE in drinking water at groundwater contamination sites.

(n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2018 from
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/sites/washington/tcegwcontsites.pdf

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Private Well Testing Act. (2018, January).
Retrieved February 17, 2018 from http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/pwta/

Procopio, N.A., New Jersey’s private well testing act and geographic summary of over a decade
of data. (2016, October 17). Retrieved February 17, 2018 from
http://superfund.ciesin.columbia.edu/sfund_files/documents/events/Nicholas_Procopio_C
olumbiaSRP_seminar_17Oct2016_slides.pdf

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Benzene- teach chemical summary. (2009, February 2).
Retrieved February 17, 2018 from
https://archive.epa.gov/region5/teach/web/pdf/benz_summary.pdf

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Trichloroethylene. (N.d) Retrieved February 17, 2018
from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-
09/documents/trichloroethylene.pdf

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air
Quality. (2017, November). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-
air-quality

World Health Organization. Arsenic. (2017, November). Retrieved February 17, 2018 from
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs372/en/