Francis Slams Marchione For Response To PFOA Crisis

by Alex Brooks
Democratic Candidate for the 43rd State Senate District Shaun Francis held a brief press conference prior to the State Senate hearings on PFOA in which his opponent Kathy Marchione took a prominent role. He spoke in front of a newly-unveiled billboard next to the Falls Diner that shows Marchione offering a dirty glass of water with the caption “No thanks, Kathy. You’re fired.”[private]He slammed Republicans in general for being anti-regulation when clearly the failure to regulate PFOA contributed to the present crisis, and noted that many Republicans have called for the elimination of the EPA. He faulted Marchione for not putting forward any legislation that would prevent a situation like the PFOA crisis from ever happening again. He noted that Marchione said her statute of limitations bill was her top priority, but he accused her of “caving to corporate lobbyists” when she amended that bill, and “backtracking under pressure” when she withdrew her amendments to it.
He concluded, “I will be 100% dedicated to these residents and I will be personally present here in Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh on an ongoing and regular basis. I will fight for dedicated resources aimed at securing and strengthening property values here in this community, to undo the economic damage that has been done.”
With PFOA hearings due to start an hour later, a reporter asked Francis if he thought the PFOA issue had become overly politicized. Francis replied, “I want to know who knew what and when.” He said he thought it is useful to look into how the situation was handled so that it can be better handled when PFOA issues arise elsewhere in the State.[/private]