“WASHINGTON – Federal funding may be on the way to clean up the PFOS contamination at the Stewart Airport Air National Guard base. That carcinogenic chemical, which was used in firefighting foam, has been determined to have been leaking into area groundwater supply and contaminating the City of Newburgh’s Washington Lake drinking water supply.
Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced that $63.8 million has been authorized for remediation and research efforts for communities contaminated by PFOS and PFOA. Of that amount, $43.8 million will be allocated to the Air Force Environmental Restoration fund, which allows the Department of Defense to identify, investigate, and clean up former waste disposal sites on military property for the remediation of those two chemicals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will receive $10 million to study the health effects of PFOA and PFOS and an additional $10 million for health screenings related to contaminated water.
Schumer said the funding is ‘a start for remediating PFOS-PFOA contamination in Newburgh, near Gabreski and beyond.’ He said that while this is a ‘big step forward to bring some relief to impacted communities, I won’t stop until all New Yorker’s have the clean water they need and those responsible foot the bill.’ ”
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