Maloney demands EPA release water contamination report
NEWBURGH, N.Y. » U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has demanded that the EPA and Department of Health and Human Services immediately release the results of a study of the health effects of contaminants in Newburgh.
Politico reported on May 18, 2018, that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and other administration officials conspired to cover up the results of the study of the effects of exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA),
The origin of Newburgh’s water contamination has been traced to the Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport.
“I don’t give a damn about the EPA administrator’s public relations concerns here, I’ve got people back home wondering whether or not they need to be worried about the PFOS in their blood,” Maloney said. “It’s not enough to mislead the taxpayers, now they’re willing to withhold critical health information for personal and political reasons. It’s completely unacceptable.”
Maloney’s “Investing in Testing Act” was signed into law as part of a larger bill in December 2017. The provision requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a five-year, $7 million federal study into the long-term health effects of PFOS/PFOA exposure.
Maloney’s demand came as controversy engulfed an EPA forum Tuesday on contamination that was attended by Pruitt. Several news reporters were selectively excluded from the forum and Associated Press reporter Ellen Knickmeyer was manhandled by security.
Pruitt had convened what he called a national summit on dangerous chemicals that have been found in some water systems. Some 200 people attended, including representatives of states, tribes and the chemical industry and environmentalists.
Pruitt’s remarks at the meeting were listed on his public schedule and described as being open to the press on a federal daybook of events.
After the story began spreading, Knickmeyer said she received a call from Lincoln Ferguson, an adviser to Pruitt. He apologized for how she was manhandled and said officials were looking into it.