Town official urges county to set discharge limits for site

NASSAU, N.Y. » Nassau Town Supervisor David Fleming said he recently proposed county legislation to limit the discharge of probable carcinogen 1,4-dioxane into Rensselaer and Columbia County waterways following the failure of the EPA to halt or limit the discharge.

Fleming said that for years, Nassau has called for a halt to potentially unsafe discharges of contaminated water from the Dewey Loeffel Toxic Landfill Superfund Site, which he said has twice the contamination of the Niagara Falls area’s notorious Love Canal of the late 1970s. Between 1952 and 1968, an estimated 46,000 tons of toxic industrial waste was dumped at the site, and the EPA has already outlined that these wastes included industrial solvents, waste oil, PCBs, scrap materials sludge and solids.

From 1980 until the site was added to the federal Superfund list in 2011, numerous investigations and cleanups were performed by the polluters and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Town officials also have concerns with the state’s drinking water standard, as compared to other states, and what that means for areas like the Valatie Kill.

“Time and time again, officials and residents have joined together to request that EPA determine acceptable levels for discharge of contaminant 1,4-dioxane into Rensselaer County water resources to protect human health and the food chain. This has not been done and the time for waiting has long been over,” said Fleming. “We are suggesting a massive shift in policy. Rensselaer County technically has title to the Loeffel Superfund Site. We are proposing [Rensselaer County] set their own discharge limits for their own property and require that EPA comply with their limits,” stated Fleming.

Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA has primary authority to regulate drinking water quality, with the maximum contaminant level being the legal threshold set by the EPA limiting the amount of a given substance in public water systems.

Fleming said Rensselaer County legislators Alex Shannon, Judy Breselor and Robert Loveridge, who all represent the area, have expressed support for his proposal.

“Nassau is thankful that elected officials at every level are standing with our community to force the protection of public health,” said Fleming.