This is a game-changing development. The Trentonian this morning (with LA Parker in the video looking like our very own Karl Kolchak) reveals the person who has most likely been his anonymous source all week during the TWW story. Ron Lind is the Water Treatment plant Assistant Superintendent, with 31 years on the job, 26 as a supervisor. He quit his job this morning, and went straight to the state Department of Environmental Protection with what he describes as evidence “that he said implicates city officials in a major cover-up regarding a recent contamination of Trenton’s water system.”
He also said “I’m not going to jail for nobody,” which is a phrase that sounds like it’s English, but must actually be an incantation in some ancient forgotten tongue, because in situations such as these it magically causes stone walls to fall to the ground and reveal all kinds of hidden things. It’s a phrase to strike fear in the hearts of those who would prefer things to stay quiet and hidden, and may also stimulate for some the process known as “lawyering up.” One singularly powerful phrase.
At the very least, this should make next week’s meeting between Mayor Mack and DEP Commissioner Martin VEEEERRRRY Interesting.
By virtue of his position and tenure, Mr. Lind is a credible source. What he has to tell DEP should be quite revealing. But in the video clips on the Trentonian site, to my ears he shifts the story from what we had heard all week, both from City Hall and in the press. Lind claims that operations at the filtration plant did not cause the situation, that failsafes prevented intake from the Delaware. He claims all the problems came from the way that water from our reservoir was pumped throughout the system. A “negative pressure” situation was created throughout the system, that caused contaminant-laden sediment from our reservoir to be churned up and put into the system flow. This negative pressure also caused strains in our underground pipes, some that immediately manifested themselves as main breaks such as the failure of the 15-inch main in Hamilton earlier this week. But, according to Lind, this negative pressure may have caused damage systemwide that hasn’t revealed itself yet. Oh, joy. I wonder what kind of insurance TWW carries in these matters? Probably excludes accidents caused by negligence, though. Guess we’ll find out.
Whether the problems originated in the Filtration Plant or at the Reservoir, the appearance of Mr. Lind, last seen in the video clip at the reception desk of DEP asking to see as senior a person as he could, in order to tell his story, will likely accelerate the process of discovery now under way. Quite a cauldron brewing and bubbling (I will not say boiling!) up.
One final note: through this entire week, I gotta say that the Trentonian, and in particular LA Parker, has been doing a great job. They’ve pushed this story along, breaking news and developing the story – in the paper, and on the web along with illuminating and informative video. I’ve had some quibbles along the way, namely with the dependence on anonymous and uncorroborated sources for several of their stories. Revealing Mr. Lind’s identity today clarifies the nature of TWW’s Deep Throat, but i was bothered earlier in the week. Other than that, the Trentonian’s been doing real journalism this week. Keep it up.
Stay tuned. Have a great weekend.