The units were added to filter out PFOS from Newburgh’s drinking water and would allow the city to resume using Washington Lake as a source.
[ALLYSE PULLIAM/TIMES HERALD-RECORD FILE PHOTO] CITY OF NEWBURGH – Newburgh’s City Council laid the groundwork for a potential lawsuit over Stewart Air National Guard Base’s contamination of the city’s primary water supply, which has forced a switch to New York City water, alarmed residents and cost the state more than $25 million.
While the resolution is not an actual lawsuit and does not name possible defendants, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has held the federal Department of Defense responsible for the Stewart Air Base contamination.
“The time has come to put this forth,” Mayor Judy Kennedy said.
Newburgh and its residents are victims of a national contamination problem that has emerged in communities near military facilities that have used a special firefighting foam created to suppress fires involving aviation fuel.
Both chemicals were used in firefighting foams and have been linked to kidney and testicular cancers, birth defects, ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol and other health problems.
In August 2016, the DEC designated Stewart Air Base as a state Superfund site after an investigation found significant levels of PFOS in water samples taken at the base.
That level was 84 times federal advisory guidelines for the chemical.
The state has spent an estimated $25 million on Newburgh’s contamination, including reimbursing the city for its purchase of New York City water and funding construction of a new filtration system that is supposed to eliminate PFOS and allow Newburgh to resume using Washington Lake.
“This is a good first step.”