NEWBURGH – Another public meeting will be held on October 25 at the Newburgh Armory Center to update city residents on the situation concerning PFOS contamination of the drinking water. And, Newburgh City Manager Michael Ciaravino has written to a top state health department official telling him the city needs to know details of the blood testing program by the time that session is held.
“We need to know the date, time and place where the blood testing
program will be conducted, how many people can enroll in the program,
and how long a wait they will have, if any, to be tested and to get their
results back,” Ciaravino wrote in a letter to Dr. Nathan Graber,
the director of the Center for Environmental Health.
Ciaravino said they need to know that everyone who has been exposed and wants to be tested will be allowed to do so. That includes people who live outside the city, but are affected by the city’s water, as well as Newburgh residents who have moved away and people who work in the city and live outside.
He offered space in one of the city’s buildings for the drawing of blood and establish a temporary lab, should one be needed. He said local doctors should be briefed about the health risks of PFOS exposure.
The city manager also suggested the state health department study whether persons who have been exposed to the chemical “have experienced a higher incidence of any illness or disease that may be related” to exposure to the chemical.
