Immediate Environmental Concern

Potable Well Sampling

NJDEP has developed the following template letters and form that persons responsible for conducting remediations can use to request access to properties to conduct potable well sampling and notify property owners, occupants and health officers of the potable well sampling results. (The term “person responsible for conducting the remediation” is defined as any person who is required to remediate by order or regulation, the owner or operator of certain industrial establishments and/or regulated underground storage tanks, any person who discharges or is any way responsible for the discharge of a hazardous substance, or any other person/investigator who is remediating a site, and applies to any entity, including but not limited to a private or public corporation, company, estate, etc.)

Access

The first of the five property access template letters is a typical introductory letter to let the property owner know that the person responsible for conducting the remediation is interested in sampling his or her well. The remaining property access template letters address possible scenarios one may encounter when trying to gain access to properties to conduct potable well testing.

NJDEP has also developed a Potable Well Information Form that can be attached to the property access letters. It contains questions regarding ownership information, existing treatment, and use of the well.

Results

Whenever potable well testing has been conducted at a private property during the remediation of a contaminated site, the person responsible for conducting the remediation must ensure the property owner, any occupants (i.e., tenants) and the local health officer are notified of the results in writing. A Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) or other authorized party may send the letters on behalf of the person responsible for conducting the remediation.

The first of the two potable well sampling results template letters addresses testing of a potable well that is not already being treated to remove site-related contamination, and the second addresses testing of a potable well where a Point-of-Entry Treatment (POET) system has been installed to remove site-related contamination.

These template letters are intended to provide basic outlines for the most common potable well testing scenarios and may need to be modified to address specific situations. For example, if an irrigation well was tested instead of a potable well, you should replace “potable well” with “irrigation well” in the text of the sampling results letter.

It is important to note that use of the form and template letters is optional. If you choose to use your own cover letters and/or tables, the information must be expressed in terms that are understandable to the layperson. The cover letter should clearly summarize the sampling results for the property owner/occupant and discuss the next steps. If contamination is detected, the information conveyed to the property owner/occupant must not minimize the urgency to address the potable well contamination and should accurately describe the source of the contamination.

If you have any questions about reporting potable well sampling results to property owners/occupants, please contact NJDEP’s Office of Community Relations at 800-253-5647.

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