Blood tests offered, no cleanup plan yet for Westhampton water contamination.
Five of them are above the EPA’s advisory level.
Five of them are above the EPA’s advisory level.
Dr. Tomarken and other officials said at the time they believed the chemicals came from the 106th Air Rescue Wing of the Air National Guard based at Gabreski Airport.
In a statement to News 12, the state Department of Health says, "The Water Quality Rapid Response Team…identified PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) contamination in some private wells in the Westhampton Beach area near the Gabreski Airforce base.
In addition, the DOH says it is working to identify a local laboratory that will administer the testing and should have one picked out soon.
Environmental advocates say they would like to see the contamination cleaned up as soon as possible.
"[PFOS] has been directly linked to such cancers as kidney cancer…but has also been linked to thyroid problems, hormone disruption," says Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
"It’s a serious chemical, it’s very persistent, which means it doesn’t break down in the environment or in our body, and it builds up."
Dozens of families in the community are now hooking up to the public water supply as a precaution.

Five of them are above the EPA’s advisory level.
Five of them are above the EPA’s advisory level.
Dr. Tomarken and other officials said at the time they believed the chemicals came from the 106th Air Rescue Wing of the Air National Guard based at Gabreski Airport.
They urged the Air Force to fix the problem.
In a statement to News 12, the state Department of Health says, "The Water Quality Rapid Response Team…identified PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) contamination in some private wells in the Westhampton Beach area near the Gabreski Airforce base.
In addition, the DOH says it is working to identify a local laboratory that will administer the testing and should have one picked out soon.
Environmental advocates say they would like to see the contamination cleaned up as soon as possible.
"[PFOS] has been directly linked to such cancers as kidney cancer…but has also been linked to thyroid problems, hormone disruption," says Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
"It’s a serious chemical, it’s very persistent, which means it doesn’t break down in the environment or in our body, and it builds up."
Residents with private water wells were encouraged at the time of the discovery to switch to the public water system.

Water contamination concerns residents.
That’s because it was determined to contain higher than allowed amounts of the chemical carbon tetrachloride, which has been found to cause cancer in animals.
Another area resident, David Hohlfeld, has had well water for 26 years but he doesn’t drink it and he heard years ago that it wasn’t safe.
Bottled water offered The state has offered to test his well water, and he’s going to take them up on that.
Another resident in that area who didn’t want his name used said he has been drinking that water and is concerned about possible effects.
What those effects could be depends on a lot of factors, including the person’s health condition and if they have medical issues.
But he did warn against consuming it and the state has passed out bottled water to the 29 affected households to provide residents a safe source.
There were numerous questions along with close examination of maps set up to explain the contaminated zone.
KDHE itself has a lot of questions.
Jurgens said they moved as fast as they could to issue the warning and set up the forum.

DENR clears Bataan plants of air, water contamination.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has revealed that there was no contamination of air and water around a power plant and fuel refinery in Limay, Bataan.
These are San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) subsidiaries SMC Consolidated Power Corp. plant and Petron Bataan fuel Refinery’s coal-fired plant.
“The coastal water along PLT Cove was found as not contaminated with substances that could be attributed directly to Petron’s dumping of bottom ash in the area,” the DENR said.
DENR’s monitoring in January found no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
“Total suspended particulates and sulfur dioxide from air samples at the PEX site and Carbon Site were “within National Ambient Air Quality Guideline Values,” DENR – Environment Management Bureau Central Luzon said.
The DENR-EMB added that ash disposal facilities of both PLT Cove and SMC are covered in soil, compacted and sealed with water for ash dispersion and deposition prevention in near communities.
3, 550 metric tons (MT) of ash were hauled out to SMC’s Northern Cement Consolidated in Pangasinan while 7.950 MT were treated, according to data from Petron Corp. Two bottom ash dump facilities inside the Petron Bataan Refinery (PBR) complex have not been used after DENR ordered the halt of dumping activities on the site.
In 2016, residents of Limay, Bataan accused the power plants of causing health problems because of an alleged ash spill in their storage facilities.
EMB Central Luzon will continue to assess the environment quality in Limay communities.

By Leonard Sparks Times Herald-Record @LeonSparks845 CITY OF NEWBURGH – TinaMarie Coughlin worries about her four children’s health.
Coughlin’s concerns also include the continued discharge of contaminated water from Stewart Air National Guard Base, which has been identified as the source of Newburgh’s water contamination.
This month the Air National Guard submitted to the state a plan for investigating the source of perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, the toxic chemical found in Newburgh’s Washington Lake and in nearby private wells used by residents like Coughlin.
Hangars, a testing area and outfalls that discharged collected runoff and drainage from buildings will be among more than a dozen spots to be investigated for PFOS, which is believed to have come from firefighting foams at the base.
But Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday the plan should include investigating and cleaning pollution at Recreation Pond, the off-base retention pond used by Stewart.
Washington Lake and other local waterways contaminated by PFOS and its sister chemicals should also be part of the military’s investigation and clean-up plan, Schumer said.
"The bottom line is that pollution like PFOS-tainted water does not stop at the base’s perimeter and neither should the Air National Guard’s pollution source survey and clean-up plan," he said.
Wells have also been contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a chemical related to PFOS and also used in firefighting foams.
A final report summarizing the inspection’s findings will be completed by Jan. 10, 2018.
Schumer, DEC officials and the environmental group Riverkeeper have repeatedly called on the military to take a more immediate step: stop the continued discharge of contaminated water into Silver Stream.

Retention basin relocated to prevent water pollution.
At its December 12 meeting, the Lake Arrowhead Dam Commission, known as CSA 70-D-1, heard of progress in completion of its retention basin relocation project from San Bernardino County Special Districts Department Division Manager of Operations Reese Troublefield.
“The walls are in on the culvert on the west side, some of the concrete channeling is done, the grading on the upper pad of the parking lot is level grade,” Troublefield shared, advising the anticipated completion date was the end of January.
According to documents obtained by The Alpenhorn News, on or about 1997, San Bernardino County Department of Public Health Division of Environmental Health Services Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) recommended Papoose Lake Disposal Site for inspection to the then State of California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB), now known as CALRecycle.
A December 5, 2001, priority list of Closed, Illegal and Abandoned Disposal Sites included Papoose Lake Disposal Site as a disposal site referred or projected in the near future for solid waste program cleanup.
In an interview with The Alpenhorn News, San Bernardino County Special Districts Department (SDD) Senior Project Manager Greg Bacon, Sr. explained, “The site was an old unclassified landfill, mainly consisting of green waste and some household trash ‘unofficial’ disposal site many years ago,” estimating the disposal site was created in the 1970’s.
“In the early 2000’s an interest of developing the site for public park purposes and later potential other local uses [sic], the landfill was required to be addressed,” Bacon shared, explaining SDD “conducted an extensive landfill classification and boundary survey” overseen by CALRecycle that “identified that the decomposed materials were not hazardous, but there was some indication of Methane gas potential” due to decomposing green wastes.
In a Final Site Investigation Report on the Papoose Lake Disposal Site, released April 2002 by CIWMB, the report made five recommendations to “bring the site into compliance with state minimum standards and protect public health and safety,” with one of them being “reconfigure the drainage pattern on the property to remove the current retention basin from directly above the landfill.” “Once we began the planning and subsequent construction process of McKay Park, that triggered the requirement to re-locate the basin,” Bacon explained with the relocation designed and approved by CLARecycle and LEA, “to address all of the site’s drainage and runoff concerns, along with maintaining existing downstream drainage.” “The main reason water should not be allowed to sit and potentially permeate through a landfill is to avoid possible groundwater contamination,” Bacon voiced, explaining, “By siting the new sediment basin away from the landfill, this protects the groundwater and any downstream waters.” “The total budget for the project to include engineering, construction and project management is about $600,000,” Bacon revealed, confirming, “The construction contract was issued to Altmeyer Inc., of Cedar Glen, on April 19, 2016, for $419,378.” CIWMB recommended “the waste in the fill area be left in place, and any future development of the site be limited to those areas not underlain with waste or artificial fill,” with SDD monitoring and maintaining the site to “prevent public exposure to the waste and to minimize the risk to public health, safety and the environment.” According to documents obtained by The Alpenhorn News, soil testing at the site found lead in one sample exceeding the Total Threshold Limit Concentrations and another sample exceeding the Soluble Threshold Limit Concentrations set by the State of California as well as other metals and the presence of methane gas.

"It used to look funny and it used to smell funny, but then it was okay, but then it would smell funny again and it would look funny again," said Joe DiGrazia, a resident.
At the Oakridge condo complex in the town Lewisboro not drinking the water isn’t exactly new.
For many the smell, the taste, the color means opting for bottled water, but a letter sent Thursday to residents set off alarm bells suggesting drinking or showering with the water could affect the liver or nervous system, even potentially cause cancer.
"We don’t drink the water so that’s good, but our showers have to be shorter, do not swallow the water when you brush your teeth," Wolff said.
The water is then treated, and pumped to homes.
In August, excessive levels of trihalomethanes were detected.
It’s the byproduct of naturally occurring materials like leaves, or plants mixing with chlorine.
But the Lewisboro town supervisor says the wording of the county’s public notice is way too strong.
Parsons says the water registered at acceptable levels until the threshold was recently changed and that the town has hired a consultant to find the cause of the problem.
If this were a true emergency he says his reaction would be much different.

Water of appropriate quality and quantity is essential for the production of crops, livestock, and fisheries, as well as for the processing and preparation of these foods and products.
Additionally, climate change will have significant impacts on agriculture by increasing water demand, limiting crop productivity, and reducing water availability in areas where irrigation is most needed or has a comparative advantage.
What can agriculture do to address water scarcity in the context of climate change, while ensuring food and nutrition security?
What responses can the agriculture and food sectors offer to alleviate the impacts – and reduce the risks – of water scarcity?
In a bid to tackle the impact of global water scarcity, FAO launched the Global Framework for Action to Cope with Water Scarcity in Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change.
Agriculture holds the key to coping with water scarcity as it is responsible for 70% of all freshwater withdrawals.
The sustainable intensification of food production, with more efficient water management systems adapted to climate variability and local circumstances, can help increase water productivity and raise on-farm incomes.
The initiative will focus on a range of important thematic areas to address issues of water scarcity in agriculture, including: Sustainable improvements of agricultural water productivity, cutting across all agricultural subsectors, from crop to livestock production, aquaculture and agroforestry, based on introduction of best practices in soil and water management, complementary afforestation, and sustainable grazing management.
Modernization and development of multipurpose and climate proofing irrigation infrastructure are considered also as important action areas to improve the efficiency of water use in agriculture while adapting to climate change impacts.
In the situation of growing water scarcity, in many countries food security will increasingly depend on food trade.