Hoosick Falls mayor meets EPA head in D.C.
HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. » Mayor Rob Allen met face-to-face with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt earlier this week to discuss the village’s tainted water supply.
Allen met with Pruitt in Washington D.C. when he attended the National Leadership Summit on PFAS.
PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) is the name for the group of chemicals that includes PFOA ( perfluorooctanoic acid), which a few years ago was discovered in the village’s water supply. It was also found in certain residential wells in nearby North Bennington, Vt., and other places. It’s a byproduct of making teflon, which factories in the area at one time manufactured. Studies have suggested long-term exposure can lead to health problems. Similar chemicals are involved in foam used by fire departments on especially heavy fires.
Hoosick Falls has since acquired a filtration system, but is seeking a new water supply.
Allen said he asked Pruitt several questions and made a num- ber of comments. Among them, he and others would like to see the EPA set safe, enforceable maximum contaminant levels (MCL) for PFOA and related chemicals.
He also brought up with Pruitt an article published by Politico about emails allegedly showing that a study set to be released by the federal Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was blocked by White House aids and people within the EPA. The study would have said that safe levels for PFAS are quite lower than what the EPA currently recommends.
Allen said that Pruitt told him he didn’t know about the study until the Politico report, and that as EPA administrator he wouldn’t have the authority to hold or release the study.
The Politico report is especially frustrating to hear for anyone in a community dealing with a PFAS chemical, said Allen.
It was nice to see the EPA is talking about these issues, Allen said, but the reality is that any action the EPA would be likely to move forward with can take years. Setting a MCL, for example, can take as long as a decade. Allen said someone at the summit brought up the fact that the EPA has not set an enforceable MCL for a man-made chemical since 1995.
“Our community is used to hearing words,” Allen said. “We want action.”
Right now, the village is still negotiating with the companies the state has deemed responsible for the PFOA, St. Gobain and Honeywell. It’s also researching new water sources. Candidates include the aquifer under the current polluted one, and the Tomhannock Reservoir which is used by the City of Troy. Allen said there are challenges and concerns with each option.