"NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey's biggest city on Monday announced a plan to borrow $120 million to drastically cut the time it will take to replace pipes causing elevated lead levels in drinking water.

City, state and county officials said the plan is expected to cut the time from 10 years to under 30 months to replace about 18,000 lead lines in Newark.

The announcement came about two weeks after the city began distributing water bottles to residents in about 14,000 homes. Water from two houses tested positive for lead above the federal threshold of 15 parts per billion.NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey's biggest city on Monday announced a plan to borrow $120 million to drastically cut the time it will take to replace pipes causing elevated lead levels in drinking water.

City, state and county officials said the plan is expected to cut the time from 10 years to under 30 months to replace about 18,000 lead lines in Newark.

The announcement came about two weeks after the city began distributing water bottles to residents in about 14,000 homes. Water from two houses tested positive for lead above the federal threshold of 15 parts per billion."

David Porter and Mike Catalini report for the Associated Press August 27, 2019. [2]