Morris Co. Man Faked Water Samples At Utility Company, NJ AG

MINE HILL, NJ — A Mine Hill man is accused of violating the Safe Drinking Water Act for submitting false water samples and records during his work at a utility company in Middlesex County, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.

Robert Baker, 56, of Mine Hill, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of violating the Safe Drinking Water Act, Grewal said. Baker is an employee of the South River Water Department, the public drinking water system for South River Borough in Middlesex County.

According to Grewal, Baker is accused of submitting fake water samples and records to a lab that tests water for coliform bacteria for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Baker was supposed to collect water samples from eight different locations twice a month to be tested, totaling 15 samples (seven on one day, eight on another day). Baker, who is the only employee responsible for collecting the samples, is accused of only visiting some of the locations and submitting false samples for the other locations.

"Today’s charges reflect our commitment to protecting New Jersey’s environment and the health of our residents through all the tools at our disposal, whether civil or criminal," said Grewal. "That means going after big companies who pollute our environment, filing charges against individuals who illegally dump waste and hazardous materials, and now bringing charges for the failure to properly test a town’s safe drinking water."

According to Grewal:

The Division of Criminal Justice and South River Police Department conducted surveillance of Baker on two recent sampling dates. On May 21, 2019, Baker allegedly did not go to at least four of the eight designated sample collection sites. Despite not visiting those locations, Baker allegedly supplied filled sample vials to a courier for the testing lab with labels indicating they had been collected on that date from seven of the eight locations, including the four locations he failed to visit. The lab tested the samples and reported the results directly to the DEP, as required by state law. Baker also was scheduled to conduct sampling yesterday, June 11, 2019. Based on surveillance, it is alleged that he failed to go to any of the eight sampling sites. Nonetheless, prior to his arrest, Baker supplied the courier for the lab with eight filled vials purportedly collected yesterday at all eight sampling sites.