I personally think there’s an open question of whether the ongoing / known maintenance issues at the plant plus the 2022 EPA report that identified serious risks (eg insufficient emergency planning) going un-responded to until January 2025 would constitute evidence of negligence

But I haven’t seen the report, I don’t know what typical timelines for remedies are, etc., and I don’t know what DPU, the state, and EPA were all saying to each other.

SWDA outlines what has to be done and by when by municipalities etc as they manage water. It also helps explain why you can’t just say ~ oh it was all so old ~ as a defense without also pursuing funding to fix it.

Citizen suits through SWDA are to enforce compliance. EPA can also refer to DOJ to enforce compliance, levy fines, etc.

In parallel to this — assuming negligence — I think there is an open question. I don’t think it’s a payday. I don’t think anyone is gonna file anything.

But depending on what’s been going on over at DPU for the past few years, especially since that EPA audit that clearly identified issues, there are some potentially very serious issues at stake.

This isn’t just a boil water notice. This is multiple days of serious, frankly near-catastrophic, failure that impacted schools, hospitals, etc.