Former Water Commission Top Official From Bergen County Pleads Guilty To Hiding Contamination

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced in a press release that a former top official of the East Orange Water Commission (EOWC) pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of second-degree conspiracy for manipulating test results to falsely report lower levels of a “regulated contaminant” in customer’s drinking water supply.

Former assistant executive director and engineer for EOWC William Mowell, 52, of Wyckoff, the former assistant executive director and engineer for the EOWC pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Carolyn Wright in Essex County to a charge that he conspired to “engage in a pattern of official misconduct, tamper with public records, and violate both the New Jersey Safe Drinking Water Act and the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act”, according to the Office of the Attorney General. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Mowell be sentenced to three years in state prison.

The original indictment was handed down on February 12, 2013, and also included charges against the now deceased Harry L. Mansmann, the former executive director of the EOWC.

In pleading guilty, Howell admitted that he conspired with Mansmann in falsify mandatory testing records of the EOWC’s water supply to hide elevated levels of the contaminant tetrachlorethene (PERC), an industrial solvent used for dry cleaning and other purposes and is classified as a probable carcinogen.

“Mowell had a duty to ensure the quality and safety of the drinking water supplied to tens of thousands of residents, and instead, he deliberately falsified test results to cover up elevated levels of a potential carcinogen,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman.

“He showed a complete disregard for the people he served and the harm that might have resulted from his conduct.”

Sentencing has been scheduled by Judge Wright for November 7.