by Alex Brooks
A public information meeting at the Petersburgh Veterans Memorial Community Center held on the 225th Anniversary of Petersburgh’s first Town meeting drew a large crowd who came with many questions, but not all of those questions could be answered.
[private]The meeting began with Rensselaer County Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas giving statistics about the County’s sampling results.
The County has taken 158 samples, and 66 of them are still waiting for labs to report a result. So far 16 wells have tested higher than 400 parts per trillion.
The County is not able to keep up with requests for well testing in Petersburgh. At the time of this meeting, 297 people were on the waiting list to get their wells tested, and the County is able to do about 30 a week. They are limited by the capacity of the testing labs. The turnaround time for the labs has also been slower than they had hoped. It is currently taking about three weeks to get results back after submitting a sample. The County is giving priority to wells that are closer to Taconic. They are still accepting requests from anyone who would like to have their well tested. To get on the list, call 270-2655.
Also present at the meeting were NYSDEC Region 4 Director Keith Goertz, and Rob Swider from the New York State Dept. of Health, as well as The Petersburgh Town Board and County Executive Kathy Jimino, Chair of the County Legislature Stan Brownell, and Deputy County Executive Chris Meyer.
When the floor was opened up to questions, many of the questions focused on the difficult question of what level of PFOA can be considered safe. At present, only wells that test above 100 parts per trillion get filters installed at Taconic’s expense, because the Regional EPA has set that as the standard. But some states have set standards much lower than that: New Jersey has set 40 parts per trillion as the danger threshold, and Vermont has set 20 parts per trillion. Those who have less than 100 parts per trillion but more than a negligible amount in their water are concerned that their water is not safe to drink, but are not getting any help from Taconic.
DEC regional Director Goertz said negotiations with Taconic are ongoing, and he said he doesn’t yet know what will be offered to those below 100 parts per trillion. He said, “I can’t be sure yet where that’s going to go.” He did say that if the EPA sets a long-term health standard, which they have promised to do some time this spring, Taconic will be required to remediate any well near their plant that is above that standard. But he said he doesn’t know yet where the line will eventually be drawn.
Some asked why there is a negotiation at all. They know that in Hoosick Falls the State is putting in filters for anyone who asks for one. Goertz said that was a bigger situation and it went a different way, but Petersburgh may go that way at some point – it is too soon to tell.
Some questions focused on Taconic’s knowledge of the PFOA contamination well over ten years ago, and wondered why no one alerted the community to the danger. Although very little was known at that time about PFOA, and it was not on anybody’s list of hazardous substances, Taconic knew enough to install filters and to get bottled water. Taconic did notify the State and Rensselaer County at that time, but no alarms were sounded and no one warned of any danger. Some pointed out that a dozen years of exposure to PFOA might have been avoided if Taconic had warned its neighbors when it first found PFOA contamination in the groundwater under its plant.
Lenore Humphrey, who has lived next to Taconic since it was a tiny little business, said, “I’m right behind them – why didn’t they tell me?”
Swider, of the NYS Health Department, said anyone from Petersburgh who is concerned about their health because of PFOA exposure can join the biomonitoring study that is already in progress in Hoosick Falls. Free medical testing and monitoring is offered based in the HAYC3 Armory in Hoosick Falls. Anyone who would like to sign up for that can call 402-7950.
Some questioners asked about whether any testing has been done at the landfill. Many suspect that materials containing PFOA might have been dumped in there, and it may turn out to be another hot spot of PFOA contamination. Goertz said they have not yet sampled there, but they plan to test there “next week.”
A question was asked about when a filtration system would be installed on the Water District’s wells. Water Superintendent Ben Krahforst said Taconic has hired Clough Harbor to design that system, and they are just getting started with the design work. Krahforst guessed that it would take six months to a year to get that done. He said he is looking into temporary systems that could be used in the meantime, but he has no information yet about that.[/private]