Director Kareem Adeem Invited to White House Summit on National Lead Pipe Problem to Share Story of Newark's Success

Kareem Adeem, Director of the City of Newark’s Department of Water and Sewer Utilities, in Washington DC before testifying at the White House Lead Pipe Summit on January 27th, 2023.

January 27, 2023

Newark Water & Sewer Director Kareem Adeem delivered the signature line of Vice-President Kamala Harris’ White House Lead Pipe Summit on Friday, January 27th, when he encouraged the audience to use funds made available by the Biden Administration to replace lead service lines.

“No more excuses, get the lead out,” Director Adeem said to applause. “You have funds now that weren’t available to us, so use them to get all your lead lines replaced.”

Director Adeem was on a panel moderated by Radhika Fox, the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Assistant Administrator for Water, and included Shawn M. LaTourette, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner.

Last year, the City completed removal and replacement of all its more than 23,000 lead service lines with no cost to residents. The project, started less than three years earlier, was acknowledged as the fastest and most efficient lead line replacement program in the country. Vice Present Harris called Newark “the model city” for such projects when she came to Newark last February to help celebrate the completion.

For that reason, Director Adeem is widely recognized for his “get it done” leadership and his advice is sought by other agencies taking on lead line replacement projects.

During the White House Summit, Director Adeem told other leaders the keys to Newark’s success were collaboration and communication. He said partnering with the community groups is vital to success, and called such groups “our trusted advisors.”

“We listened to the community, and they helped us communicate with our residents about what we needed to do,” Director Adeem said. “Communication, communication, communication. You can’t do too much.”

He also cited the critical cooperation between Mayor Ras Baraka, Governor Phil Murphy, and Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, who offered the City a $120 million bond to support the $190 million project. This allowed the City to make the project mandatory and free for residents, and a Newark City Council ordinance allowed the City to change the lines without property owner’s permission.

“More than 70 percent of our residents rent,” Director Adeem said, “so we didn’t have to track down absentee landlords and LLCs to get permission. That expedited the process.”