Read the full article by Brendan J. Lyons (Albany Times Union)
“HOOSICK FALLS — The state Department of Environmental Conservation this week released its final report on alternate drinking water supplies for the village of Hoosick Falls, which five years ago learned its underground wells had been contaminated with a toxic manufacturing chemical.
The five recommendations include keeping the same filtration system, tapping into underground aquifers on farm sites just south of the village, or pumping water more than 12 miles from either the Tomhannock Reservoir in Pittstown or the city of Troy.
‘I would agree that the community is at the point now where there’s some frustration that it’s taking a lot of time, but at the same time this is the future water source for the next 100 years,’ Mayor Rob Allen said. ‘I know it has been an exceptionally long ride; I’m finishing up my fourth year as mayor in March.’
Allen, a high school music teacher, ran for mayor five years ago in the wake of revelations that village officials and state health agencies had downplayed the significance of the discovery of the toxic chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, in the village’s drinking water.
Village residents on the municipal supply system have since been relying on a carbon-treatment system to clean their water of PFOA. Residents with private wells also received filters for their water systems. But the PFOA-laden water — even though its filtered — has left many residents unsettled and hopeful for a permanent water supply that may not need to have toxic chemicals removed before it reaches their faucets.
Still, if the final plan is to pump water from the Tomhannock Reservoir, or from the city of Troy, the water would still need to be treated at the village plant because of the distance it would travel…”