Contractor lied about replacing lead pipes in Newark after getting $10 million deal, feds say
NEWARK, N.J. -- A contractor hired to replace lead pipes in Newark, New Jersey lied about doing the work after signing a $10 million deal with the city, according to federal prosecutors.
Newark hired Jas Enterprise Group to replace lead pipes with copper ones at 1,500 sites, but feds say the company's leaders went to great lengths to deceive the city about their work.
"Instructed workers to leave lead pipes in the ground"
Michael Sawyer, who runs Jas Enterprise Group, and his associate Latronia Sanders were arrested and appeared in federal court Thursday.
"At several sites, Sawyer and Sanders deliberately instructed workers to leave lead pipes in the ground and then took steps to deceive Newark and others," said U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip Selinger.
Sawyer and Sanders even instructed crews to make preexisting copper pipes look new by cleaning and shining them and used fake photos to cover up the scheme, prosecutors said.
"Sanders and Sawyer submitted misleading photographs to inspectors to give the impression that no lead was present at sites," Selinger said.
"It's horrible that people would deliberately and intentionally try to cut corners and get paid for work that they did not do," Mayor Ras Baraka said.
Over 23,000 lead service lines successfully replaced, city says
At no time were residents exposed to lead because a compound used to coat pipes was protecting them, Baraka said.
"We changed our coercion control to orthophosphate, which effectively stopped lead from leeching from pipes," he said.
Officials said the majority of companies hired did exceptional work.
"This is not a black eye on the program. The city still is a national model. We did replace over 23,000 lead service lines," said Kareem Adeem, Newark's director of sewer utilities.
The conspiracy charge against Sawyer and Sanders carries a maximum of 20 years behind bars.