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Pointing to the public health crisis that ensued in Flint, Michigan after the city turned over control of its water to the state, water rights advocates called on leaders in Newark, New Jersey to retain their authority over the city’s water as they confront their own lead crisis.

Reports of lead levels well above the EPA’s safety standard of 15 parts per billion surfaced earlier this month, prompting Newark city officials to distribute bottled water to residents.

“The lead crisis in Flint was precipitated by a state takeover of the water utility, so it cannot be considered a remedy for Newark’s problems. The state should not take control away from the city’s democratically elected officials.” —Mary Grant, Food & Water WatchState Assemblyman Jamel Holley on Wednesday called on Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to declare a state of emergency and hand over control of the water supply to New Jersey’s government, but critics quickly urged the city to consider the crisis in Flint, which exposed thousands of people to toxic levels of lead.

Flint’s lead crisis was traced to the city’s use of the Flint River for its drinking water to save money—a decision made after the city was put under state control in a receivership due to debt. The city’s contract with Veolia, the largest private water supplier in the world, also caused “Flint’s lead poisoning problem to continue and worsen” through the company’s “negligence and fraud,” according to a lawsuit filed by the Michigan attorney general in 2016.

Giving control to an outside entity could soon give way to privatization of Newark’s water, which could have ramifications for residents long after the lead crisis is brought under control.

“The lead crisis in Flint was precipitated by a state takeover of the water utility, so it cannot be considered a remedy for Newark’s problems,” said Mary Grant, director of the Water-for-All program at Food & Water Watch. “The state should not take control away from the city’s democratically elected officials.”

Baraka responded to Holley with a clear rejection of the proposal, saying, “The city of Newark is not interested in turning over our water source to any outside entity.”

The current water crisis reportedly resulted from the 39,000 filters officials distributed throughout the community following tests in 2017 that showed high lead levels. The filters were meant to be a stop-gap measure until the city could replace 18,000 lead pipes which caused the neurotoxin to leak into the water supply, but more recent tests suggested the filters had failed.