Newburgh Manager Ciaravino, left, Rep. Dan Kildee and Rep. Sean
Maloney review
a map of the city’s watershed
NEWBURGH – It could cost millions to resolve the water crisis in
Newburgh, but Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney Saturday pledged the cost
of an emergency water supply and to remediate the chemical contamination
of Washington Lake, its primary water source, won’t cost the city
a penny.
Maloney toured the city’s watershed with Congressman Dan Kildee
of Flint, Michigan and city officials include Manager Michael Ciaravino.
Kildee praised Newburgh officials for addressing the discovery of dangerous
chemicals in Washington Lake head on in contrast to Flint leaders running
away from the issue of tainted water in that city.
In Newburgh, it is believed the problem of PFOS and PFOA in the lake was
caused, at least in part, by leakage of the chemical from the Air National
Guard Base at nearby Stewart Airport.
Maloney has secured a commitment from the Department of Defense that it
has placed the investigation of the Newburgh water issue on the top of
its list.
Ciaravino said in the end, it could cost billions to clean up the water
supply, pay for water in the interim, and construct purifiers to prevent
problems in the future.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has already said it
would hire a private company to design, build and install a new system
to remove the chemicals from the water source and Albany has also committed
to pay for the cost of buying New York City water from its Catskill Aqueduct
at a cost of over $250,000 a month.
