Village Reaches New $255K Agreement For PFOA Expenses
By Doug La Rocque and from a
Village of Hoosick Falls Press Release
The interim agreement with Saint Gobain and Honeywell, approved by the Village Board at a special meeting Wednesday, June 19, includes $185,000 for past costs the Village took on as a result of the PFOA contamination, and $70,000 in anticipated costs related to the operation and maintenance of the GAC filtration system for the current fiscal year. Like both previous interim settlement agreements, this will maintain the Village’s legal rights going forward. The previous agreements totaled $200,000 and $330,251.
“This agreement is another small but important step forward as we work to make the Village whole,” said Mayor Robert Allen. “Not only does this reimburse the Village for more of the previous financial burden it had to bear, but it also addresses anticipated costs related to the daily costs of operating the filtration system, something the Village began taking on when the system came online in late 2016. Most importantly, we still maintain our legal rights; in short, the Village’s costs are covered and the Village maintains its claims for damages against the companies.”
Trustee Kevin O’Malley tells The Eastwick Press, “this is good news, especially in light of how tight our budgets have been the past few years.” He is also hopeful a final settlement can be reached in the not too distant future, without having to go to court. Deputy Mayor Bob Ryan says “it’s an interim agreement in good faith to cover the expenses we have occurred, but in no way should it be construed as a final agreement on the matter.”
The Village will be extending the previous tolling agreement another 5 months to October of 2019. “There is still more work and more investigation that needs to be done to understand the full extent of the PFOA contamination,” Mayor Allen said. One major part of the Village’s long-term recovery will be the release of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Alternate Water Supply Study anticipated in July. This report will list all of the available options for the Village’s long-term water supply. “This is a big part of understanding where Hoosick Falls will be with water five, fifty, and a hundred years from now,” Mayor Allen explained.
The interim settlement agreement is available on the Village website for review by the public.