Tapped Out: How Newark, New Jersey’s Lead Drinking Water Crisis Illuminates the Inadequacy of the Federal Drinking Water Regulatory Scheme and Fuels Environmental Injustice throughout the Nation

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule, as they relate to the nationwide issue of lead in drinking water systems. This article focuses on Newark, New Jersey’s drinking water crisis, illuminated through the Newark Education Workers (NEW) Caucus and Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC) v. City of Newark et. al. case, where NRDC argued that the city violated both the federal SDWA and the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule in its failure to adequately monitor and maintain proper levels of lead in drinking water systems throughout the city.