Water toxic in NY town

Blood-test shock

ALBANY — At least two residents of a tiny upstate village with tainted water have 50 times the national average of a toxic chemical in their blood.

The state Health Department tested about 2,000 people for PFOA, or perflurooctanoic acid, in rural Hoosick Falls, 40 miles northeast of Albany, and results began trickling in over the weekend.

“The average person up there is about 11 times the national average,” said Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, who represents the village.

But one couple, Harold and Marion Stevens, told News 10 ABC TV that their numbers were off the charts — 159 and 104 micrograms per liter, respectively.

Nationwide readings average 2.08, compared with 23.5 in Hoosick Falls.

Studies have shown PFOA is likely linked to kidney and testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease and other ailments.

After several locals died of rare cancers, residents launched an effort to find out if something in the water, perhaps from nearby plastics-manufacturing sites, was making them sick.

State and local officials knew of the situation a year before the federal Environmental Protection Agency told residents to stop drinking the water last November.

Politico reported last week that the village, Rensselaer County and the state continued assuring residents their water was safe.

By Friday, McLaughlin demanded US Attorney Preet Bharara investigate.

“The Cuomo administration . . . pushed back against the EPA,” he said. “The Cuomo administration claimed they were following the EPA guidelines when they were not. In my mind, that’s a crime.”

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie pledged in February to hold hearings, but now says they aren’t needed.

“Our priority right now is to ensure the people of Hoosick Falls and around the state have clean drinking water and that issues are being addressed,” said his spokesman, Michael Wyland. “If we still feel the need to look at it through hearings in the future, we can do that.”

DOH spokesman Jim Plastiras said, “The state followed EPA guidance and has responded aggressively by installing a new village drinking water system [and] initiating a bloodtesting program.”