N.J. Towns Can’t Face Contract Suits Over Contaminated Water, Court Rules

newjerseymonitor.com

New Jersey residents cannot sue public water suppliers for breach of contract when the utilities supply contaminated water, a panel of appellate judges ruled Friday (7/19). The three-judge panel’s decision unifies decades of divergent case law that, at first, considered municipal and county water suppliers as parties to a contract with their residents but later found water distribution is a government service that is shielded from some civil liabilities.