by Doug La Rocque
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released their decision on how to provide a new permanent source of clean drinking water for the Village of Hoosick Falls. That decision calls for:
• Developing two new groundwater supply wells. Existing test wells south of Hoosick Falls will be converted to production wells;
• Retaining one existing village well. Redundancy is required in the case of an outage of the primary wells;
• Constructing a water transmission line from the new wells to the village water treatment plant along public rights of way;
• Continued operation of the public water supply treatment plant to remove naturally occurring elements, and ensure disinfection and distribution to meet applicable water supply requirements; and
• Retaining the existing GAC treatment system to ensure removal of ambient organic compounds.
The two new well sites are on land off NYS Route 22 south of the Village, owned by Jeff Wysocki and Jerry LaCroix. That is what many had speculated would be the answer for a year now, ever since DEC put forth a number of options which included piping water in from the Tomhannock Reservoir in Pittstown, connecting to the City of Troy’s water line and its Brunswick terminus or to simply do nothing and continue to draw from the contaminated wells and run it through the GAC system. Piping the water in from the Tomhannock or Brunswick would have cost tens of millions of dollars, and doing nothing was never really considered.
In 2016, Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was detected in the Village of Hoosick Falls’ public drinking water supply and Town of Hoosick private drinking water wells above the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt). Since that time, there have been numerous studies conducted on the effect of PFOA, a known carcinogen, multiple rounds of blood testing, numerous test wells dug, public hearings, the formation of a Hoosick Area Community Participation Work Group (CPWG) to work with the DEC and the NYS Department of Health (DOH), agreements with with Saint-Gobain and Honeywell International (two of the four companies found by NYS to have created the contamination) to pay for much of the remediation work and most recently, a $62 million class action settlement.
News of the Record of Decision (ROC) was welcomed by everyone The Eastwick Press reached out to. Hoosick Falls Mayor Ron Allen released a statement saying, “The Village welcomes the ROD issued by DEC requiring the development of new local groundwater wells as our future water source. This is a significant step forward and the culmination of a great deal of work from many residents, advocates and organizations. We look forward to working with DEC and the responsible parties so that the development and implementation of the new water source takes place as expeditiously as possible.
While we are grateful to get to this important milestone, we remain focused on what more needs to be done, and will make every effort to continue to advocate for our residents and assure that protections are in place so that our supply will be forever protected against PFOA and any other type of contamination. Investigation and remediation will continue, and we will continue to take the view that an additional well drawing on the new uncontaminated source should be developed to serve as a backup to the new wells.
That being said, we applaud the choice of water source as we continue our comeback and economic recovery from the stigma of water contamination.”
Village Trustee Kevin O’Malley says, “I am happy that the Village has turned another page of the PFOA Story. As a Village trustee I was hoping for a third well but I’m looking forward to getting our water source away from the contaminated site.”
Village resident Micheal Hickey was the individual credited with discovering the contamination, and has been an advocate for procuring clean water, remediation and addressing the health concerns of those impacted. He tells The Eastwick Press it is a major step toward closure, for both himself and the residents of the Village and the Town as a whole. With so much involvement over the past years, he says he was starting to feel a sense of burnout. He also described it as another level of safety and thinks the decision to use the local wells was the most practical — economically and expediently — and keeps Village control over their water.
Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin released a statement that said, “This has been a long-time coming and the people of Hoosick Falls need and deserve a reliable and safe source of water to rely on. I was proud to advocate for residents of Hoosick Falls as Assemblyman and continue to advocate today as County Executive. I still believe the best and most permanent solution to the situation is to establish a public water source between Hoosick Falls and the Tomhannock Reservoir or any other large sources of drinking water. In the meantime, strong guarantees need to be provided to the residents about the quality and safety of the water, and residents should be protected from costs associated with the project.”
Hoosick Falls’ two state representatives also weighed in on the decision. Senator Daphne Jordan commented, “Today’s issuance of the Saint-Gobain – McCaffrey Street Record of Decision by the State Department of Environmental Conservation is an important step toward the provision of a permanent water source in response to PFOA contamination in the Village of Hoosick Falls’ water supply. The support of local community stakeholders for the decision is especially noteworthy. I appreciate the dedicated efforts of DEC Commissioner Seggos and his staff in advancing this practical solution that will help provide a water supply that’s safe, clean and reliable for area families. We need to ensure this project moves forward and is fully implemented. We also need to focus on the identified PFOA contamination in Poestenkill, expand and accelerate the scope of private well testing and make certain that the state, not local families, assumes all of the testing costs as I’ve continually called for in my correspondence to Governor Hochul.”
Assemblyman Jake Ashby said simply, “I am encouraged that we are finally moving closer to a sustainable water source for the Hoosick community. It is imperative that we continue to work to ensure that everyone has clean, healthy and safe water.”
Finally, CPWG Co-Chair Brian Bushner said, “This has been a long time coming but the group is comfortable that the process was as complete as possible and the decision reflects community priorities. The CPWG appreciates all of the time that our community has invested in providing feedback and guidance to the DEC, as well as the incredible amount of work that the DEC has contributed to making this come to fruition. The water crisis has been one of the largest challenges our community has ever faced, and to see a resolution and rectification on the horizon brings great relief to all.”
The ROC also states DEC and DOH will continue to provide Hoosick area residents with information and updates regarding ongoing remediation efforts. In addition, state agencies continue to engage the Hoosick Area Community Participation Work Group (CPWG) to discuss the progress of the PFOA cleanup. No actual timeline for the work on the wells is given in the DEC release.