EPA change puts Washington Lake back on the danger list
NEWBURGH – When the levels of the chemicals PFOA and PFOS were
initially mentioned regarding contamination of Newburgh’s Washington
Lake water supply, federal and state officials said the danger threshold
was 200 parts per trillion, and since the lake’s average was only
140-150 parts per trillion, the city had nothing to worry about.
On Thursday, the EPA lowered that danger level to 70 parts per trillion.
City Manager Michael Ciaravino told the city council Thursday night that makes the timeliness of a solution that much more critical.
“We now have with the current thresholds readings at Washington Lake that exceeded by double the newly revised standards,” Ciaravino said. “The very first thing I intent to focus on is our ability to qualify for the disaster relief under the superfund and we have already begun in earnest and have communicated with environmental counsel regarding this update.”
Newburgh officials have shut off the Washington Lake drinking water supply and cut over to their Brown’s Pond backup, but that water, which is said to be safe to drink, only has a few months of supply. And the city has spent over $34,000 in a month to perform maintenance, upgrades and legal advice regarding the conversion.
If the city were to tap into the New York City aqueduct, it could cost it over $200,000 per month so Ciaravino is exploring the possibility of drilling Newburgh’s own wells to secure a long-term supply of clean water from an aquifer.
State and federal officials have yet to pinpoint the source of the chemicals. While they are components of aircraft firefighting foam and the New York Air National Guard at Stewart Airport handles the firefighting responsibilities for the entire facility, only Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney has pointed the finger at the Guard base as one possible source.
On Thursday Maloney said with the significant lowering of the danger threshold, “we need the EPA and DoD [Department of Defense] to take emergency action to clean up this mess right now and keep families in Newburgh safe.”
Mayor Judy Kennedy has nothing but praise for the city workers who stepped up to the plate over the last month to work at a fever pitch to cut over to Brown’s Pond.
