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Source of lead baffles officials Utility zeroes in on cause, as levels remain high By RoB anTheS
For the third consecutive testing period, samples from the Bordentown Water Department contained twice the levels of lead allowed by the federal government. Baffled local officials continue to search for answers to the most basic question: Why? The quest for clarity has led the Bordentown City government to take a holistic approach to their water system, which ser ves nearly 16,000 people in the city and Bordentown Township. In addition to taking hundreds of water samples, the utility also has begun the process of digging up entire streets in order to ensure no lead pip-
ing exists in the distribution system. City officials believe none of the pipes belonging to the utility contain lead, and insist the water source is not the problem. If true, that likely would leave the cause as lead piping, solder or fixtures within homes. The onus, then, to fix the issue would be on individual homeowners. “We are very, very serious about this,” Bordentown City Mayor Jim Lynch said. “We are not taking this lightly. We’re not pushing blame on anything. We need to get to the problem, and we have to help either the homeowner solve it or the water utility solve it.” Utilities across New Jersey— from Newark to Hackensack to Trenton—have grappled with lead issues in recent years. Nearby, Trenton Water Works has tested for excessive lead
in three of the last four sixmonth sampling periods. SUEZ Water Hackensack received its first ever violation for lead in January. Gov. Phil Murphy has acknowledged the issue, and even devoted part of his first State of the State address in January to recognize lead piping and aging water infrastructure is a problem statewide. Murphy also held a meeting with mayors whose towns have grappled with lead in the water. The mayors of Newark and Trenton were there. So was Lynch. “I kind of felt out of place because we had nowhere near the kinds of problems they had,” Lynch said. For this reason, the problem perplexes more in Bordentown. Nearly all the water utilities in question have lead service lines. As far as anyone knows, See WATER, Page 4
The first ladies of Trenton pool Local women part of champion squad By JuSTin FeiL
Bordentown basketball player Sophia Peterson tries to get around a Hamilton West opponent during a 52-40 home win over the Hornets Feb. 15, 2019. For more photos, turn to Page 14. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
It’s a Friday night and 10 women are playing pool in Peter’s Place on South Broad Street, something that wasn’t happening as recently as four years ago. “It’s like a girls’ night out,” Sabrina Guadagno says. “You go out and play some pool, have some drinks, and enjoy the night. A lot of times you get busy and you don’t get to see your girlfriends that often. This is like a set date.” The women play 8-ball matches on ladies teams as part of the Trenton division of the American Poolplayers Association of South Jersey. The nights
are fun and lively but also show a competitive side. “Everybody quiets down, there’s some whispering,” Eileen Shaw says. “You can feel the tension in the air when it gets serious.” No ladies team has been better under pressure than the Frantasticons, a team that consists of Kerri Banning, Francine Case, Guadagno, Marie Guindin, and Shaw. “We have a blast,” says Shaw, the team captain whose workday job is as a medical receptionist for an ENT office; she also tends bar at Kennedy’s Bar on South Clinton Avenue. “We laugh. It’s so much fun. You get to hang out and play pool. It’s an excuse sometimes to get out.” The Frantasticons won the Trenton division last year, then
made history when they won the World Pool Qualifiers tournament in Atlantic City in June to become the first ladies team from Trenton to qualify for the American Poolplayers Association 8-Ball Team Championship in Las Vegas in August. The Atlantic City tournament is the third largest pool tournament in the world. “It was such an adrenaline rush,” says Guindin, who lives in Trenton just six blocks from Peter’s Place and is a Shop Rite manager during the day. “It was so exciting. We were super concentrated. In Atlantic City we went out and walked the boardwalk and were praying, ‘Please, God, let us win this.’ We took deep breaths and said, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ We went inside See POOL, Page 8
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