“Additional wells have to be tested in the Town of Islip near Long Island MacArthur Airport for a firefighter foam contaminant linked to several illnesses, officials said Friday.
The tests were ordered after samples from two private wells revealed amounts of the pollutant — perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS — above the federal health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion, Suffolk health officials said in a statement…
The contaminant, which can be especially harmful for unborn and breast-fed babies, has not been found in the public water supply.
In January, MacArthur Airport was listed as a possible Superfund site over concerns that firefighting foam used before 2000 might have fouled groundwater, state environmental officials said.
That announcement was made shortly after PFOS was found in a well in Bohemia, about 7,500 feet from the airport.
That well supplies the Suffolk County Water Authority. Its water was already being treated to remove PFOS.
The new tests will be conducted in the area bounded on the north by Peconic Street and the Long Island Rail Road; on the west by Louis Kossuth Avenue, Sycamore Avenue and Pond Road; on the east by Lincoln Avenue, Veterans Memorial Highway and San Souci Lakes; and on the south by the Great South Bay, Suffolk health officials said.
The tests — free for homeowners — will be done by a private laboratory hired by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, Suffolk’s statement said.
The DEC is also offering free bottled water to people who rely on private wells for drinking water in the testing sites, Suffolk health officials said.”
Read the full article by Joan Gralla