by Alex Brooks
In his first regular Town Board meeting as Supervisor, Alan Webster said he is trying to establish lines of communication with the Governor’s office to stay abreast of the PFOA situation. He is expecting to get a meeting soon with Jim Malatras, the Governor’s Director of Operations. [private]
The problem up until the day of the meeting was that the Governor’s office was overburdened by the flurry of activity at the end of the legislative session, which ended late on Saturday night, the day before the Petersburgh meeting. He was assured that once everybody recovered from that, a meeting would be set up.
Webster asked the Petersburgh C-8 Citizens Group to give him a formal letter that he can take to the Governor. Webster then asked Water Superintendent Ben Krahforst to give an update on the Water District.
Krahforst gave a brief summary of the previous Friday’s meeting with engineers from Barton & Loguidice about the grant application that they are submitting on behalf of the Town for water system improvements (see story on page 3).
He then said all of the wells he is using now have problems and need to be repaired, improved, or replaced, and the control systems don’t work well, so he has to control them manually. Well 5 is producing all of the District’s water at the moment. because the water from it has the lowest PFOA level. Water from that well is testing at around 35 to 40 parts per trillion, and using only that well, the finished water in the District’s system last tested at 44 parts per trillion. However, if water levels get lower during the summer or if there is a leak somewhere in the system, that well might not be able to supply enough water. In that case he would have to turn on Well #2, which can produce plenty of water, but water from that well has PFOA levels of 140 parts per trillion.
Krahforst said the forms for the pad on which the filtration system will be installed are just about finished and the contractors may be able to pour the concrete for that pad this week. Krahforst said he is hopeful that the carbon filtration system could be installed by the end of July.
Krahforst also said he believes the Town needs to have a liaison to the Superfund negotiations that are currently going on between Taconic and NYSDEC about the PFOA situation. He said “We need to know what is going on and have someone involved who can advocate for us.”
Also at this meeting, Kathleen Share described a meeting with Jim Malatras arranged by Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin for PFOA activists from both Petersburgh and Hoosick Falls. Hoosick Falls residents asked the State to pay the $46,000 cost of producing a study on expanding the Municipal water system to serve many of those whose wells have been contaminated. Share suggested that Petersburgh should ask for something similar. Petersburg residents asked that blood testing be done in Petersburgh. All of the activists asked for more information and better communication about health monitoring. The State may be bringing in doctors from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to talk with people about the implications of elevated levels of PFOA in the blood. Malatras sought to set up better means of communication. He said residents can call his office at 518-281-6167 or e-mail to waterquestion@exec.ny.gov, and he appointed Leo Rosales as the contact person in his office for PFOA concerns.
Other Matters
• Supervisor Alan Webster appoin-ted former Town Councilman Neal Geary as Deputy Supervisor.
• The Board accepted a recommendation from the Petersburgh Library Board of Trustees to appoint Tami Whitmore as a Library Trustee. She takes the place of Lori Hamm, who has resigned from the Board after 8 years of service as a library board member.
• The Board agreed to hold its meetings for the rest of this year at 7 pm instead of 7:30.
• The Board asked Highway Superintendent Rob Cottrell to work on getting the speed limit lowered on Armsby Road and Hewitt. Application for a lower speed limit must be made to the State Dept. of Transportation.
• The Board agreed to have A&E Landscaping mow the cemeteries twice a month for the remainder of the season rather than monthly because after a month they are too overgrown and it makes it difficult to cut the grass. Webster said the additional cost would fit within the budget.[/private]