East Orange officials and William Mowell, former assistant executive director of the East Orange Water Commission, pictured right, have been facing a lawsuit by a former commission employee. (File photo/New Jersey Department of Corrections) (File photo/New Jersey Department of Corrections)
Lawsuit involving contaminated drinking water in E. Orange, S. Orange to be settled soon
EAST ORANGE — A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over an effort to hide elevated levels of an industrial solvent in drinking water pumped to residents in the city and neighboring South Orange.
The agreement would resolve a lawsuit filed by former East Orange Water Commission employee Thomas Valenza involving claims that the commission’s former executive director, Harry Mansmann, and former assistant executive director William Mowell schemed to hide the water contamination.
Mansmann and Mowell were both indicted in February 2013 on criminal charges related to the alleged scheme. Mansmann later died and Mowell was sentenced on Dec. 12 to three years in state prison after pleading guilty.
In the lawsuit, which was initially filed in April 2013 in New Jersey Superior Court, Valenza alleges he was directed to turn off contaminated wells before collecting samples, but he refused to do so. Valenza was later “forced to retire,” after learning about illegal activity at the agency, the lawsuit states.