SCHOOL DISTRICT FORUM ON HIGH WATER LEAD LEVELS SET FOR TODAY

The Board of Education will hold its much-anticipated community forum today at 10 a.m. on the findings this week that nine drinking water sources at five district schools had unsafe lead levels.

See the background HERE.

The forum is set for Seth Boyden School, 274 Boyden Ave. Experts in lead testing and health officials will be on hand, while free child care is also being provided.

TALK TO THE TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE TODAY AT DEHART PARK

The Township Committee hits a new location for the regular Talk to the Township Committee meet and greet today, setting up their table at DeHart Park, 120 Burnett Ave., from 9 a.m. to Noon.

So stop by, ask a question, give them a piece of your mind, or just a pat on the back.

Remember, they work for you!

SCHOOL DISTRICT "RESEARCHING" DISTRICT-WIDE LEAD TESTING OF STUDENTS, BUT SUGGESTS VISITING YOUR OWN DOCTOR

The school district sought to update parents at Thursday night's school board meeting on the findings of high lead levels in nine drinking water sources in five schools this week, but stopped short of announcing district-wide lead testing for students.

In comments to residents who attend the meeting, Superintendent John Ramos said 

Based on the recommendation of our District physician, we 

encourage any families who are concerned to speak to your 

family physician and ask about any lead testing that
he or she may have conducted for your children.

We are also researching the possibility of arranging for free 

lead testing for anyone who, for whatever reason, does not 

want to use their personal or family doctor. As a public school 

district, we are held to very tight guidelines about how we are able 

to spend taxpayer dollars. In addition, we have discovered that labs
have strict guidelines about testing as well. So this is proving to 

be more complicated than expected.

We are holding a community Q&A session this Saturday at 10am at 

Seth Boyden. Local health officers and experts in lead in drinking 

water will be on hand to explain the findings and answer questions 

from parents, guardians, students and staff.  Free childcare will 

be available, so we hope that all concerned community members 

will be able to participate.

See his comments and related views from School Board President Elizabeth Baker below:

The district has taken those nine drinking water sources out of service, along with three other drinking fountains at South Orange Middle School after the results of their testing was lost. 

But the district had no new information on why the nine sources were found to have high lead levels this year, but not last year when similar tests were done.

PSE&G SEEKS FIRST RATE HIKE IN NINE YEARS

From PSE&G:

(NEWARK, N.J. –  Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) today filed for a modest increase in residential gas bills that would take effect this fall. If approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, this would be the first gas supply rate increase in nine years.

 While the proposed gas rates would take effect this fall, bills for PSE&G’s residential electric customers are dropping 2.5 percent today just in time for summer. The lower bills are the result of the Basic Generation Service auction held in February for customers who receive their electric supply from PSE&G. The typical customer who uses 750 kilowatt-hours per summer month and 7,200 kilowatt-hours annually will pay $4 less per summer month, or $32 less per year.

Under the gas supply filing made today, a residential gas heating customer who uses 165 therms in a winter month and 1,010 therms annually would pay about $5 – or 3.6 percent more in a winter month. This same customer would pay about $31 more per year.
“We work hard to keep our bills as stable as possible for customers,” said Jorge Cardenas, vice president of asset management and centralized services. “By efficiently managing our gas supply contracts and purchases, we have kept our increase as small as possible.”  

Even with the modest increase, residential gas bills are still 50 percent lower than they were in 2008. Under the proposal, the rate residential customers pay will increase to 37 cents from 34 cents per therm.

“While the cost of natural gas is still historically low when compared to a decade ago, costs for the 2017-2018 period have increased,” Cardenas said. “Overall gas prices are higher due to decreased production levels, as compared to last year. The costs for gas from the Marcellus shale region also are higher due to an increase in demand as a result of several pipeline expansions that are now accessing the Marcellus region as a supply source.”
Cardenas added, “During the past nine years, PSE&G has provided significant savings to our customers as the cost of natural gas has steadily dropped. As a result, even with the proposed modest increase, the typical customer will pay about $824 less per year than they did in 2008 – in addition to monthly bill credits that have been implemented in the last few years.”

PSE&G makes no profit on the sale of natural gas, passing along what it pays to its customers. If the price of natural gas increases, the BPU allows the state’s natural gas utilities, including PSE&G, to recover those costs. Conversely, reductions in the gas supply price may be implemented at any time if market conditions warrant.

NEARLY 300 TRAFFIC TICKETS ISSUED IN MAY

From Maplewood Police:

May Traffic Enforcement Summary
Officers Conducted;
328 Radar/ Speeding Enforcement Details
410 Motor Vehicle Stops
64 General Traffic Details
294 Summons were issued

ROBERT J. MILLER OYSTERFEST KICK-OFF PARTY A SUCCESS

Organizers of the upcoming third annual Robert J. Miller Oysterfest held their yearly kick-off event Thursday night at St. James Gate.

Volunteers were selling t-shirts and hats and promoting the event, which will be on Sept. 15 this year at The Woodland.

Also in attendance was WABC-TV anchor and Maplewood resident Michelle Charlesworth, serving again as a celebrity bartender, along with Maplewood Mayor Vic Deluca (Below).

See more information HERE on this important fundraiser and skin cancer awareness event in memory of Robert J. Miller, who died from Melanoma several years ago.

FORMER CHS BASEBALL STAR MURPHY PICKED BY ORIOLES IN MLB DRAFT

Jimmy Murphy. Photo:NJ.com

From NJ.com:

SECAUCUS – Jimmy Murphy, a right-hander from South Orange and a Columbia High School graduate, was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the eighth round of the MLB Draft with a 248^th pick overall.

Murphy, a recent Fordham University graduate, was 6-7 for the Rams this spring with a 2.59 ERA. He struck out 85 and walked 27 in 93.2 innings.

Murphy, a former Essex County Player of the Year, is a 5-foot-11, 195-pounder. He was a first team All-Atlantic 10 selection.

LOST LEAD TESTING DATA FORCES SOMS FOUNTAINS SHUT DOWN

As the South Orange Maplewood School District continues to deal with the recent revelation that nine drinking water sources in five different schools were found to have unsafe lead levels, it turns out testing data from three other water sources at a sixth school was lost.

Superintendent John Ramos sent a note to South Orange Middle School parents informing them that three water fountains in that school were shutdown after data on their lead levels was misplaced.

See his note below:

Dear SOMS Community,

We have closed off 3 water sources at SOMS as a precaution. We did not receive test results for these 3 sources, since the samples were lost in transit to the testing company. Although the sources did not test positive for lead, we would rather err on the side of caution, so have shut down these sources while we retest them.  

The other water samples at SOMS all tested below the lead action level established by the US Environmental Protection Agency for lead in drinking water (15 µg/l [ppb]).

SOMS is being provided with bottled water for the remaining days of school.

We realize that families and staff will be concerned at the possibility of exposure to elevated lead levels, and we are working to complete the retesting as quickly as possible. We will advise the community of the results for these three water sources as soon as they are available.

Sincerely,
Dr. John J. Ramos, Sr.
Superintendent

This update follows Monday's revelation that recent tests showed some drinking water sources at Maplewood Middle School, Tuscan, Seth Boyden, South Mountain school and annex, and Underhill Field had lead levels above the accepted 15ppm, with one water fountain at Seth Boyden showing a high 444ppm.

As the district seeks to respond to the issue, bottled water has been provided at each school and a community forum to discuss the matter is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Seth Boyden School.