City officials in Newark said they learned in October that lead water contamination wasn’t just affecting a dozen homes, but was a “widespread problem,” potentially impacting as many as 40,000 residents. But, a newly-released email shows officials were warned at least seven months earlier — months they spent insisting the water was “absolutely safe to drink,” and assuring residents that the issue was confined to a small number of homes.

Beginning in April of this year, through messages on its website and in public statements, the city blamed old infrastructure for elevated lead levels in tap water samples. New court records in an ongoing federal lawsuit over the city’s lead problem, however, show a consultant pointed to another cause: Newark’s water treatment at one of its plants no longer appeared to work — an early sign that the issue could be widespread.

CDM Smith, the consultant hired by Newark to study how the city was treating its water, submitted its draft report in October but shared its initial findings with three officials as early as February, records show.

In a Feb. 22 email to the city’s top water department officials — including then-director Andrea Hall Adebowale and then-deputy director Kareem Adeem — the consultant said a preliminary review showed Newark’s method of preventing lead from corroding off old plumbing and dissolving into the distribution system “has not been effective.”

“Even if they weren’t going to take action (in February) they should have at least been straight with the public and told people there is a problem with lead in many households," said Erik Olson, senior director for health and food for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the environmental group suing the city. "I think it was very misleading to the public to tell people that the water was perfectly safe.”

Through its consultant, city officials defended their actions, saying they were waiting for complete study results to take corrective measures.

Email to Newark water officials.

In repeated statements this year, Newark officials assured residents the lead issue only affected a limited number of homes.

“Our water is safe," Adebowale, who died last month, said in an April statement and again in June. “We reiterate that Newark’s water meets all federal and state standards and that this issue is confined to a limited number of homes with lead service lines."

It wasn’t until October that Newark acknowledged problems with corrosion control at its Pequannock plant and announced it was distributing 40,000 water filters to residents.

"In October, we found it was a widespread problem,” Mayor Ras Baraka previously told reporters. “Once we got a full report that this was not an anomaly, that this wasn’t, 12, 14, 20 homes that are affected by this … we began to go right into what we thought we should do the minute we found out it was a widespread problem.”

City spokeswoman Crystal Rosa deferred to a statement on the February email from CDM Smith on Tuesday and did not provide additional comments from city officials.

CDM Smith said the findings outlined in the email were preliminary.

“Water chemistry is highly complex," David Smith of CDM Smith said in a statement forwarded by the city. “Serious consequences could have resulted if corrective action was taken prior to completing a thorough evaluation.”

“We shared these preliminary thoughts with the city and explained that our recommendations could change as we advanced the study,” he said. Smith added that when the study was complete, Newark “responded with immediate action, distributing water filters to residents within two weeks of receiving the draft report.”

The city’s response to the lead issue has not violated any federal standards.

A graphic explaining the water distribution system in Newark. (Courtesy: Newark)

Emergency order

The Natural Resources Defense Council has long accused Newark officials of downplaying the lead problem and misleading residents.

Most recently, the NRDC alleged the city has not been forthcoming about the risks posed to residents in the East Ward.

Newark’s residents are serviced by two water treatment facilities, the Pequannock plant that provides water to every ward except the East and the Wanaque facility, which serves the East Ward and parts of the North, Central and South wards.

While the Pequannock plant’s corrosion control treatment failed, officials maintain the Wanaque facility — and the residents serviced in that area — are not affected.

But the NRDC filed an emergency motion on Saturday, asking a judge to order Newark to distribute filters to all residents, including those in the East Ward, not just those with lead service lines or lead fixtures. Among the NRDC’s exhibits: the Feb. 22 email from CDM Smith.

“Over the course of 2018, Newark continued to assure its residents that the city’s water was safe to drink, despite evidence to the contrary,” the group wrote.

City officials have repeatedly denied that Newark’s East Ward is affected by the drinking water crisis stemming from lead contamination, but the data shows that’s not true. Learn more: https://t.co/h2wgEgdUjN — NRDC 🌎 (@NRDC) December 10, 2018

The NRDC said the city has known since at least 2016 that water from the Pequannock and Wanaque systems were blending, meaning that the inadequately treated water from Pequannock could be affecting residents in the East Ward.

Kareem Adeem, now acting Director of Newark’s Department of Water and Sewer Utilities, said blending between the two systems is rare and happens when there’s a pressure loss due to a water main break or a fire.

Corrosion control treatment is “no less effective under these conditions” in water from the Wanaque system, he said. Kareem said it was difficult to know what caused the elevated lead levels in some East Ward sampling locations.

What has the city done?

Newark has repeatedly denied allegations it hid the problem from residents or downplayed the seriousness of the issue. Baraka previously said the city has informed residents of lead problems since 2017 but did not want to unnecessarily incite panic.

“It’s misleading to tell people that the water is contaminated,” he said last month. “What has been said is the city deliberately tried to mislead people ... which is BS by the way.”

Since October, the city has distributed nearly 21,000 filters to residents. Newark spent $1.6 million to purchase 20,000 filters; an additional 20,000 were donated.

Newark is still rolling out a $75 million program to replace 18,000 lead service lines. Contracts for the first round of construction have not been finalized; construction is expected to start next year.

The city has not yet applied for a state permit to begin a new method of corrosion control. Adeem said the application is being prepared and approval is expected in January so the new treatment site will be operational in March.

The new corrosion treatment is expected to take 6 to 8 months to take effect.

Read more of NJ.com’s coverage of New Jersey water issues here.

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Staff reporter Michael Sol Warren contributed to this report.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.