NEWBURGH – The contamination of the City of Newburgh’s Washington Lake reservoir in New Windsor was determined to have been caused by PFAS chemicals from the Stewart Air National Guard Base nearby. They were contained in firefighting foam that leached into the ground and streams and eventually found their way into the city’s drinking water supply.
Since 2016, Newburgh has been tapping the New York City Catskill Aqueduct for its drinking water.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have been studying the PFAS contamination and how it affects people since 2018.
The final Newburgh area report can be found here.
The final report from the agencies, just released, summarizes levels of PFAS in blood and urine from residents living in locations known to have had elevated levels of PFAS in their drinking water near the Stewart Guard Base.
The exposure assessments found:
- Average age-adjusted perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) blood levels are higher than national levels in all ten EA communities.
- Average age-adjusted perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) blood levels are higher than national levels in most EA communities.
- Other PFAS blood levels were higher than national levels in some, but not all, EA communities.
- The elevated level of PFAS may result from past drinking water contamination in the EA communities.
