Hoosick Falls Will Be Nominated As A
Superfund Site
by Alex Brooks
An informational meeting held at the Hoosick Falls Central School on Thursday, January 14 gave those attending an overview of what is known about PFOA and about the specifics of the PFOA contamination of the Hoosick Falls water system.[private]
There were a dozen or more EPA scientists and administrators who took the stage as part of the panel, along with Dr. Nathan Graber of the NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH), Dr. Marcus Martinez, leader of Healthy Hoosick Water, and David Engel, attorney for Healthy Hoosick Water.
Although PFOA is not specifically regulated by the EPA, the EPA has established a “health advisory” limit of 400 parts per trillion. Drinking water containing greater concentrations than that is considered dangerous to human health. The Hoosick Falls public water supply has shown levels of about 600 parts per trillion, and because it exceeds the health advisory limit, EPA is telling the public not to drink the water, or to cook with it.
Beyond that, there are many uncertainties. While many are concerned about long term exposure to PFOA through the Hoosick Falls drinking water, and many are assuming it has been present in the water for a long time, possibly decades, it is simply not known how long it may have been present in the water or at what concentrations. The water was never tested for PFOA before August of 2014.
A test well near the northern edge of Saint-Gobain’s McCaffery Street plant found a high concentration of PFOA in the ground water, but much lower levels near the surface. The groundwater at that well showed PFOA at a concentration of 18,000 parts per trillion. How it got there, and how extensive the “plume” of PFOA contamination in the groundwater is, has not yet been determined.
EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said the EPA is giving this investigation “a high priority.”
Both Enck and toxicologist Bob Michaels spoke about the toxicity of PFOA, citing studies concluding that there is a probable link between PFOA exposure and certain cancers. PFOA is linked with kidney cancer, testicular cancer, and various other diseases.
Michaels said the mantra of the toxicologist is “the dose makes the poison,” so the issue is what level of exposure is dangerous. The EPA health advisory limit of 400 parts per billion would suggest that concentrations lower than that are unlikely to cause disease, but a number of speakers suggested that a safe standard is probably lower than that. Michaels said the EPA standard is based on short term exposure, and a standard for long-term exposure would generally need to be much lower to be safe. He concluded, “We don’t know what is a safe level,” but he guessed it is probably much lower than the EPA standard, in the neighborhood of 10 parts per trillion or less.
An information sheet put out by the NYS Department of Health a year ago said, “Information on the health effects of PFOA in humans is limited.” Until around 2000, no one knew anything about PFOA as a toxin. Prior to that, the only research being done was by DuPont. They were finding that it did have negative health effects, but they were keeping those findings secret. A lawsuit settled in 2000 brought that information to light, and since then others have taken up the research to learn more about PFOA toxicity.
One important fact about it is that it is very persistent. It biodegrades very slowly, so it has a tendency to accumulate. Once it is in your body, it is a long, slow process to get it out.
Dr. Graber of the NYS Department of Health announced that his agency will soon be commencing health studies of the people in Hoosick Falls. They will undertake an epidemiological study of cancers in Hoosick Falls, with particular attention to the cancers linked to PFOA exposure. In addition, the Department of Health will soon be launching a “biomonitoring” study. They are seeking volunteers to participate. They will measure levels of PFOA in the blood, and perhaps do other screening tests to assess what health effects are occurring as a result of the PFOA in the water. Dr. Graber said details about the biomonitoring study will be sent out soon, and a public meeting will be held to tell the public about it.
Superfund Nomination
At this meeting it was announced the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has asked the EPA to nominate the area in Hoosick Falls where PFOA levels in the ground water are high for listing on the National Priority List under CERCLA (the Federal law governing contaminated sites), commonly known as being designated a “Superfund” site. Enck characterized this as good news, because it will bring a lot of resources to research the nature and extent of the problem, and to remediate it. The obvious downside is the notoriety that comes with such a designation, which will bring negative economic consequences, since nobody wants to live in or near a Superfund site. Enck said, “Some people say when you designate a site as a Superfund site, it creates a stigma. I think that horse is out of the barn.”
Walter Mugdan, the Superfund administrator for Region 2, said he will be preparing an application for Superfund designation to be submitted next fall, which means he will need to gather a lot of information between now and then to include in the application.
Enck cautioned that it’s possible a Superfund designation may be difficult because PFOA is not currently a substance that is regulated by the EPA. It remains to be seen what response the nomination will receive after it is submitted.
Several of the EPA people on the panel mentioned that a Superfund designation is the key to getting adequate resources to research and remediate the problem. If designated, the Federal government fronts the money for research and remediation, with the idea that this will identify the source of the contamination, and ultimately the polluter will pay for it all.
An activist who is involved with the cleanup of the Dewey Loeffel landfill site in Nassau said when that site was designated as a Superfund site, that’s when they really started to make progress on cleaning it up, and she recommended Superfund designation to Hoosick Falls.
The NYSDOH also wants to test private wells that are near the Village wells. They will test private wells without charge to the homeowner. If you would like to have your well tested, call Albert DeMarco at NYSDOH at 518-402-7860. His e-mail is beei@health.state.ny.gov.
Following the presentations, the panel invited questions from the audience, and patiently answered questions for hours. The meeting, which began at 6 pm, didn’t break up until after 10 pm. It is not feasible to repeat all of the questions that were asked and answered, but here are a few.
One resident asked, if PFOA is so toxic, why doesn’t EPA regulate it and require testing? Enck said there are many many thousands of chemical compounds used in industry, and it is difficult for the EPA to keep up with testing and evaluating them all. She said she thinks in the future PFOA will be regulated. She said the regulations have not kept up with the science – understanding of the toxicity of PFOA is a recent phenomenon. Another resident asked why not drill new wells instead of filtering the contaminated water? Enck said the fastest way to deal with the public health emergency that has arisen in Hoosick Falls is to filter the water. She said the temporary filter will be operational sometime in February, and the permanent one by next fall, but that is not necessarily the end of measures that will need to be taken to supply Hoosick Falls with clean water. It may make sense later on to drill new wells or to abandon one or more of the existing wells. She said, “if you are going to dig new wells, you need to know where the plume is,” so you don’t end up digging a new well in a place that is also contaminated.
Another resident asked if residents will still be able to get free bottled water after the filtration system is in place next month. Enck said the bottled water will be available until testing has proven that the municipal water system is free of contamination. Another resident asked if there are medical tests that residents can get to see what level of exposure they have had and whether their health is at risk. Dr. Graber did not have any specific suggestions, but urged everyone who is concerned about their health to sign up for the biomonitoring study, which will focus on assessing health impacts from PFOA, and will provide guidance on individual health risks without charge to the participants.
The message of this meeting was clear – Hoosick Falls is going to be dealing with the PFOA problem for quite some time to come, and the stigma of being a town with contaminated groundwater is going to be here for quite some time. The only good news is that the large turnout of highly skilled professionals from EPA, NYSDOH, and NYSDEC demonstrated that the ponderous machinery of government is moving into action to solve this problem. As Regional Superfund Chief Mugdan put it, “We are here for the long haul.”