Did Water Company Harm Some Roxbury Wells?

ROXBURY, NJ – New Jersey American Water (NJAW), a company that provides water to many properties in Roxbury, is investigating whether its actions impacted some private wells in Succasunna.

The company, last week, installed an above-ground, temporary water line along Green Lane to alleviate the problem while it conducts the probe. The water line, painted orange, is connected to a hydrant behind Suburban Furniture on Main Street. Several houses on Green Lane have been connected to the line because their wells stopped working properly.

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Properties in Roxbury get water from either NJAW, the township water utility or private wells. All properties on Green Lane use private wells.

NJAW gets water for its system from wells, including one in Kenvil, not far from Green Lane. The company is trying to determine if its groundwater consumption from that well caused the Green Lane well problems.

“The source of supply in the area is groundwater, which is withdrawn from wells constructed in the bedrock aquifer per the company’s New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) allocation permit to adequately provide service to customers,” said NJAW Senior Director of Communications & External Affairs Denise Venuti.

She said the company is investigating whether water withdrawals from its well on 1st Street in Kenvil “were interfering with residents’ private wells.”

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“We are currently reviewing well records, pumping test data and hydrogeological reports provided by NJDEP, and consulting with NJDEP staff and the local department of health officials,” Venuti said.

The temporary water main was installed, disinfected and sampled the week of July 8 and put into service July 13. “The company can also provide additional temporary connections to other properties on Green Lane if needed,” Venuti added.

Might Not Be Their Fault

Roxbury Township Manager John Shepherd said township officials are keeping an eye on the situation.

“While Roxbury Township does not regulate NJ American Water (in this instance it is NJDEP), Roxbury has great interest in monitoring this situation since there is an impact to Roxbury residents,” said the manager.

He noted that, “ultimately, it might be determined that the NJ Water operations are not the cause of the private well issues.”

Green Lane resident Drew Majewski said his well is working fine. “Knock on wood, I’ve been lucky," he commented.

He said some wells on Green Lane are shallow and some are deep, adding it seems the deep wells seem to be the ones with issues. “With my shallow well, I’ve not had any problems,” said Majewski, a Green Lane resident for 14 years.

However, he was unhappy with the lack of communication related to the situation. “No one really knows what exactly is going on,” he said.

He said NJAW workers showed up on his property on July 9. “They said they had to install a temporary water meter,” Majewski said. “I was confused, because everyone on this street has well water.”

Later that day, a health department official told him “people in the area have been having their well water come up brown and dirty” so the water company was running the temporary line “to supplement people who are having these kinds of issues.”

Roxbury Mayor Jaki Albrecht said she is “very concerned about the potential of wells running dry” and urged a thorough investigation by the state.

NJAW became a water purveyor in Roxbury five years ago after purchasing Roxbury Water Company, a family business that was founded in 1954 and served about 3,900 homes and businesses. NJAW is a subsidiary of American Water, a company that has about 3 million customers.

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