Newark getting help with water crisis through airport agreement
NEWARK, N.J. - Newark is getting a boost in paying for the replacement of lead pipes that are affecting drinking water.
A lease extension agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for Newark's airport and port will pay the city $5 million more per year for 30 years, plus $5 million up front.
Mayor Ras Baraka says that while it isn't directly tied to the recent water crisis, the money will help pay debt service on a $120 million loan the city is using to replace 18,000 lead service lines.
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The city has handed out bottled water to affected residents since mid-August, when a few homes with city-issued filter still had elevated lead levels.
Wider sampling recently found the filters working in up to 99 percent of homes.