A former employee of Trenton Water Works (TWW) has been indicted for allegedly failing to collect water samples and falsifying water reports.
Cesar Lugo, 37, of Trenton, is charged with two counts of official misconduct, theft by deception, violating the Safe Drinking Water Act, tampering with public records, and falsifying records, according to New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on May 12.
“Everyone has a right to safe drinking water, and to know that the people charged with keeping their water supply safe are doing their job,” Platkin said. “We will continue to actively investigate any allegations of official misconduct, particularly when the actions of public servants endanger the citizens of New Jersey.”
The TWW system provides water to more than 200,000 residents in Trenton, parts of Hopewell Township, Lawrence Township, Ewing and Hamilton. As a water utility, it treats and provides drinking water from water taken out of the Delaware River.
TWW has a 683-mile water distribution system and is owned by the city of Trenton. In 2022, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) had to step in and oversee the operations of TWW after the utility had failed to address issues and conditions with providing safe drinking water for customers.
Shawn LaTourette, the commissioner of the NJDEP, noted that additional sampling data was being collected throughout TWW’s distribution system during the time the compliance sampling results were allegedly falsified.
“As a result, the Department of Environmental Protection does not believe that there was an immediate public health risk during the period that this individual allegedly falsified water sampling data,” he said.
Lugo allegedly knowingly submitted fraudulent or falsified water testing results and fraudulent or falsified chain of custody forms to TWW; he allegedly did not perform water collections when he was supposed to; and he allegedly submitted timesheets to TWW indicating he performed his work duties and was entitled to pay, when he was not, when he worked as a water sample collector from Oct. 1, 2023 to Nov. 13, 2023, according to the indictment.
Additionally, the indictment alleges Lugo violated the Safe Drinking Water Act by falsifying water testing results.
Lugo’s indictment comes after TWW revealed in late November 2024 that they had violated drinking water requirements for more than a year from October 2022 to December 2023.
The water utility stated then that a TWW employee had been falsifying drinking water data, which TWW was made aware in fall of 2023. The employee was put on administrative leave and then fired. The NJDEP had been informed of the investigation.
“As a result of the investigation, it was determined that a majority of the samples collected by TWW during the time period of Oct. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2023, were deemed invalid,” TWW stated in its investigation at the time. “Accordingly, TWW failed to adequately monitor or test for regulated analytes, including disinfection byproducts, E. Coli, total coliform, iron, manganese, alkalinity, pH, and orthophosphate.”
In December 2024, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora explained the employee was a water sample collector and that steps had been taken to strengthen oversight over the water sampling collection process.
Earlier this year in January, some local mayors and state legislators in TWW’s service areas called for the creation of an independent public regional water utility after two independent reports released by the NJDEP stated “Trenton Water Works (TWW) suffers from historic neglect and underinvestment … [and is at] an extremely high risk of system failure.”
The NJDEP noted at the time that even with its stabilization support, Trenton alone cannot repair the utility. There were no recommendations to privatize or sell TWW, however the agency did state that TWW can be successful if the water utility is restructured as a public utility independent from Trenton’s municipal government.
