by Mary Esch, originally posted on July 6, 2016

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – The state Assembly will hold hearings in the fall on water quality issues, including an examination of the Cuomo administration’s response to toxic chemical contamination of drinking water in the upstate village of Hoosick Falls, officials announced Wednesday.

“Recent reports of water contamination in municipalities across the state have highlighted the need for a thorough review of measures to ensure clean and healthy water in our communities,” Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a news release.

Heastie spokesman Michael Whyland confirmed that the hearings would examine the state’s actions in Hoosick Falls as well as “anything related to water quality.”

“This is huge – it’s about time,” said Loreen Hackett, a Hoosick Falls resident who has been waging a social media campaign calling for hearings into why it took the state Department of Health 18 months to warn residents their drinking water was contaminated with PFOA, a toxic chemical long used in the manufacture of Teflon and similar materials.

“Who knew what, when?” Hackett said. “There needs to be some sort of accountability so people in other communities don’t go through what we have.”

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said it’s up to the Legislature whether to hold hearings on the Hoosick Falls contamination response.