Capital Region finally receives answers concerning water sanitation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Kevin Waltz

Managing Editor

After two years of delay, Sen. Chuck Schumer announced the EPA will establish a new maximum contaminant level (MCL) for cancer-causing chemicals in Hoosick Falls’ water supply.

The New York senator addressed the long-standing water crisis at the University at Albany Cancer Research Center in East Greenbush on Feb. 20.

“We all know how environmental contaminants have hurt our area here in the capital region,” Sen. Schumer said. “The most recent, of course, is what’s occurred in Hoosick Falls and Petersburg a few years ago.”

In those communities, harmful chemicals called PFAs have significantly polluted the drinking water.

“Today we have some good news,” Sen. Schumer announced. “After a lot of pry, we got the EPA, the federal environmental agency, to set a maximum contaminant level for PFOS and PFOA.”

The news came after four years of lacking regulations and conflicting information, leading to no solution and a community concerned for their health.

For many Hoosick Falls residents and members of Hudson Valley Community College, the effects of the contamination have had a severe effect on their lives.

“I lived in Hoosick Falls my entire life and never really thought twice about drinking the water until I was older and just thought ‘this doesn’t taste right,’” Karen Marcoux, an environmental science major, said. “And then we got the news.”

“I know there was a lot of outrage and fear around the time the PFOA was first discovered,” Emma Hall, a liberal arts student, said. “And I know no one wants to buy houses in Hoosick Falls anymore.”

Mayor of Hoosick Falls, Rob Allen, believes that the action is long overdue. “This is our kids. This is our health. This is our families. These are our friends,” Mayor Allen emphasized.

Mayor Allen expressed his frustration with the EPA’s lack of action in helping communities affected by these chemicals. “The sad truth of the matter is that there will be many more communities across the nation who will discover that they have these toxic chemicals in their water and their blood,” he said.

“We are here today to implore an agency to simply do its job,” Mayor Allen said.

Allegedly, the companies responsible for the contamination knew about the dangers to health caused by PFOA and actively hid the knowledge since the 60s.

“Unfortunately, the EPA has a history of being pushed around by the chemical industry and not doing everything it’s supposed to do,” Sen. Schumer said. “They all drag their feet and set a level that shows the effect of lobbying by the chemical industry.”

Sen. Schumer argued that America deserves an EPA that will cater to the consumer, the average citizen, instead of special interests.

“I want to assure the residents of Rensselaer County, of Petersburg and Hoosick Falls, and all of New York state, that I will not rest until I get the EPA to get moving quickly and get moving in the right direction,” Sen. Schumer stated. “There are Hoosick Falls students, I’m sure some of them attend [Hudson Valley Community College], who are having their blood levels checked, and let’s hope they haven’t been hurt by this,” he said. “But the fact that the federal government was so laggard for so long and the fact that a company is not being held accountable is very bad. I’m going to do everything I can to change that.”

Meredith Youngmann, a business administration student, recently received results for her blood levels of PFOA.

“The national average [PFOA blood count] is 2.07 and I have the highest in my family. I have a 190. The national high is 5.6. This is insane to me,” Youngmann said. “The average in Hoosick Falls for the first blood testing is between 50-60. So even for Hoosick Falls mine is way higher.”

Fortunately for those affected, the contaminant will eventually work out of the system.

“I know that PFOA is in Teflon. Growing up, I remember, if my mom got gifted a Teflon pan she’d throw it away. She knew that Teflon was not good for you. Fast forward and we’re drinking it daily,” Youngmann added.

For some residents, however, the dangers of PFOA contamination are at the back of their minds.

“My dad has lived there his entire life and has always drank the water. He is now 64 and is still drinking the water,” Marcoux said. “He doesn’t really see the harm, or he believes there is none,” she said. “He also may think this way because he works for the company that was blamed for putting the contaminants into the water in the first place.”

Saint-Gobain, one of the companies cited for causing the contamination, has a factory that employs many residents of Hoosick Falls.

“The unfortunate heart of the situation is [that] the biggest hotspot for the contamination is one of the factories located in the village, and it’s 300 yards away from our well,” Mayor Allen said.

Saint-Gobain has helped in efforts to provide Hoosick Falls residents with bottled water but continues to maintain that the contamination is not their fault. However, to many residents, this is not enough, with multiple lawsuits being filed against Saint-Gobain and Honeywell.

“Even though I have not really been affected by the contaminated water, I have seen the negative results in other people’s lives,” Debora Hall, a liberal arts student, said. “I have seen a lot of pictures of little kids holding signs that have their age and the PFOA level in their blood,” she said. “It is quite unsettling.”

Although measures are now being taken by DEC, DOH and now the EPA to help the return access to clean water to Hoosick Falls, according to Hall, the effect on the community will be long-lasting.

“I think Hoosick Falls will be forever known as the town with contaminated water,” Hall said. “This year, I have had people ask me where I am from. When I said Hoosick Falls, they asked me: ‘Isn’t that the town with the water problem?’”