Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson pressed the state Department of Environmental Protection this week to take stronger action to fix the long-troubled Trenton Water Works, saying the utility remains at risk of failure even under state oversight.
Reynolds-Jackson, a Democrat from Trenton, questioned DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette during an April 9 Assembly budget hearing, calling the utility a “volcano that is waiting to erupt any day.”
“You, being the regulatory authority, are giving us these broad strokes to do something,” she told LaTourette. “Still today, you say Trenton does not have the operational capacity to function.”
Trenton Water Works, which supplies water to Trenton and parts of Ewing, Hamilton, Hopewell and Lawrence Township, has been under direct state oversight since 2022 following years of safety violations and operational lapses. The system has faced issues ranging from elevated lead levels and the presence of larvae to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that killed two people and sickened seven others in 2022 and 2023.
Most recently, the plant experienced a shutdown in January when ice on the Delaware River clogged its intake system.
“There was ice that was affecting the Delaware River, and there was a problem with the intakes at Trenton Water Works,” LaTourette said. “Ice was within the water column and frustrating the ability of the intakes to function, which caused a series of problems.”
Governor Phil Murphy’s proposed $58.1 billion state budget for fiscal year 2026 includes a $3 million increase for Trenton Water Works. Reynolds-Jackson questioned how those funds would be used and whether the DEP should play a larger operational role.
LaTourette said that while the DEP provides oversight, the city still operates the system and struggles to recruit professionals with the needed expertise.
“In a broad proposition last month, or the end of last year, we put out an RFP to do exactly what you are suggesting — to bring more operators into Trenton. And no one wanted to do that,” he said.
“Water is complicated. It is a complicated work of chemistry,” LaTourette said. “It feels easy to turn on the tap, and clean water comes out. It takes a lot for it to get there, and it needs to be run at the top by executives who have deep expertise in the water sector that is really lacking at Trenton Water Works.”
Reynolds-Jackson said she expects urgent action to address long-standing problems and emphasized the impact on residents.
“We service five municipalities. Every single resident wants to have water that they can bathe, cook, drink. That’s the bottom line,” she said.
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