NEWBURGH – Free blood testing
to determine the potential harmful effects of drinking the water around
Newburgh will be available to anyone who lives in the Moodna watershed
– the towns of Newburgh and New Windsor and the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson.
That announcement was made at Tuesday night’s latest session between state officials and area residents as the issue of the carcinogenic chemical of PFOS in Newburgh’s reservoir, Washington Lake, still looms.
Concerned citizens fill most of the Newburgh Armory Unity Center
The blood testing will be held on seven separate occasions from November 1 through 19.
The State Department of Health will not place a cap on the number of people tested.
At this point, a main concern seems to be the dissemination of current information to the public.
Daurice Barnwell, a medical case worker who works at the office building at 280 Broadway, told the panel she toured the four floors questioning folks about the free blood testing, to find only two people who knew about it.
“So, that’s telling me something that needs to be done,” said Barnwell. “We have to do better. It’s not, again I put so much reinforcement on this; it’s not just about knocking on doors. It’s about literally meeting people where they are personally, and professionally where they are, disseminating this information, expressing the urgency.”
City Manager Michael Ciaravino said he knows more than just the residents coming to the forums need to know updates and what services are available to them regarding this issue. He said Newburgh is a testing ground for how communities can deal PFOS water contamination and that they are working with the state Health Department on a number of innovative methods, including: mobile testing sites, reaching out to local faith-based groups and ministries, getting local medical professionals educated, as well as possibly disseminating information through the area schools.
There is certainly room for improvement, the city manager said, but the
city is dedicated to its duty of protecting the well being of its residents.
“For us in the City of Newburgh, we cannot let this go. As our fire department has indicated, we are the ones sworn with protecting the City of Newburgh and protecting our community’s best health interests,” said Ciaravino. “So, we have no intention of having a one and done, or a three and done, as it relates to these community forums, and there are many, many other units of work that will succeed this unit of work.”
Graber: “… in it for the long run”
State Health Department Director of Environmental Health Dr. Nathan Graber maintained that the state isn’t going anywhere, and though this will be a long learning process, they intend to stick with the city through its entirety.
“The Department of Health is in this for the long run,” Graber said. “We’re here with this community to help provide them with as much information about their exposures, and the associated health risks, as possible. We are working with our federal partners to understand the emerging science around the exposure to PFOS through drinking water and what that means in terms of people’s health, and we’re getting that information. Our goal is to get that information back to the community as quickly as it becomes available.”
As far as the current water in Newburgh is concerned, Ciaravino reiterated that it is the cleanest ever, as it is coming from the Catskill Aqueduct, and that the city will not utilize Washington Lake as a water source again until they are sure the lake’s water is of the same quality as the aqueduct water.
Those who want to sign up for free blood testing, or seek information
regarding it, can call the health department at 518-402-7950, or email
them at: beoe@health.ny.gov .
