NEWBURGH – What caused the chemical contamination of Newburgh’s primary water supply, Washington Lake, has caught the eye of New York City law firm Weitz & Luxenberg.
“Members of this community deserve to know the risks posed to them by ingesting this chemical, as well as who is responsible for contaminated their waterways, and our investigation will seek to answer those questions,” said attorney Robin Greenwald, head of the Environmental and Consumer Protection Unit at the firm.
Newburgh’s problem is similar to those in Vermont and New Hampshire, and in Hoosick Falls, New York that the firm investigated.
“We have learned about it from the news,” Greenwald said. “We had a couple of people contact us by themselves and Erin Brockovich found it and she referred it to our firm and we have been looking at PFOA issues at other communities and this appears to be a somewhat similar situation that we investigated. Clearly there are some high levels in the water bodies there.”
A week ago, Newburgh officials shut off the water from Washington Lake and began using its backup source, Browns Pond.
