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Drinking water in New Jersey’s capital city, Trenton, and parts of four surrounding communities was not properly tested for 14 months.

Last week, Trenton Water Works mailed a letter to its 200,000 customers in Trenton and parts of Ewing, Hamilton, Hopewell and Lawrence townships saying that one of their inspectors falsified water quality reports between October 2022 and December 2023.

Michael Walker, a spokesman for the utility, said while certain tests were not performed, there are safeguards in place.

“We do test water in our laboratory at our water filtration plant hourly, there are other tests that go on in the field,” he said.

He said a total of three TWW employees conduct water quality samples in the field, and only one of them submitted fake reports. The unnamed individual was put on leave and then fired.

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora described the inspector, who submitted false reports, as a “rogue employee” and called the situation “outrageous.” He said steps have been taken to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.

“We’ve instituted some safeguards, including GPS tracking devices on fleet vehicles, we’re pairing employees with supervisors, we’re requiring photo documentation of sample sights,” he said.

He said many of the water samples taken by TWW during the period in question were considered incomplete and deemed invalid by the Department of Environmental Protection.

MORRIS COUNTY, New jersey (WABC) — The FBI and New Jersey State Police are now asking for any public information after reports of drones seen flying around Morris County last week.

The drones were reported flying in several areas along the Raritan River over several weeks.

The nightly drone sightings in central New Jersey involved larger-than-hobbyist type drones and raised questions because of their proximity to both a military installation and President-elect Trump’s Bedminster golf course.

Witnesses had spotted the cluster of what looked to be drones and a possible fixed wing aircraft.

The FAA has imposed drone flight restrictions while authorities investigate.

Local police have said there is no known threat to public safety.

“Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon would like to inform everyone that the recent drone activity observed by many in our communities is being actively investigated. There is no advisable immediate danger to the public at this time,” Morris County Sheriff’s Office said.

Anyone with information about the drones is encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit it online at tips.fbi.gov.

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Filling up your vehicle’s gas tank in New Jersey will cost an extra 2.6 cents a gallon starting on New Year’s Day.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration said Monday the state’s gas tax will climb about 6% to 44.9 cents a gallon.

The change stems from a review required under a new law to support the state’s fund for transportation infrastructure through 2029. State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio said that in order to hit a statutory target of about $2 billion, the law requires the tax on petroleum products be adjusted to meet the revenue requirement.

The increase would keep New Jersey among the top 10 or so states with the highest tax on gasoline in the country, according to nonprofit Tax Foundation.