Berlin Still Waiting To Hear
By Doug La Rocque
Petersburgh Town Supervisor Alan Webster was informed on Tuesday afternoon, October 2, that the town’s application for a $741,000 grant from the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) was part of the $200 million earmarked to address drinking water needs, announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The funding makes $185 million available for water treatment system upgrades to combat such contaminants as PFOA, PFOS and 1,4-dioxane.
Petersburgh applied for the grant as part of a $1.235 million upgrade to its Water District. One of the most immediate needs is cleaning the tank and replacing freeae protection and corrosion protection devices in it. A first step will be testing sediment on the bottom of the water tank for PFOA contamination. If not contaminated, it will be a rather simple process. But if it is, Taconic will have to clean it out before other maintenance tasks can be undertaken.
The Supervisor said Town and Water District representatives will get together as early as Wednesday to begin to prioritize and gather information on when the money will become available. Speaking with The Eastwick Press, Mr. Webster said “this is very much good news, and allows us to work to provide safe and clean drinking water, and get up to date on maintenance of our water delivery system.”
The District does not yet have details on the loan portion of the project.
The Berlin Grant May Take a While
No grant for the Berlin Water District for its water tower was listed in this round of grants, which was focused on PFOA And PFAS contamination issues. Berlin Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger said he was told when the grant application was filed on September 7, that a response might take two months or more.