Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , December 7 , 2016 3
Blood tests scheduled through December
By SHANTAL RILEY sriley @ tcnewspapers . com
The New York State Department of Health will begin a new round of blood tests for people exposed to perfluorooctane sulfonate ( PFOS ) in drinking water . Testing will take place at the Cornerstone Family Healthcare center on Lake Street New test dates begin Saturday , Dec . 3 The DOH states there will be additional test dates added in January . Of the 2,900 people who signed up for blood tests , 260 have been tested , according to the city .
A PFOS information forum was held at Baptist Temple Church on Monday night . It was the fourth since the discovery of PFOS in the City of Newburgh drinking water , Washington Lake and surrounding tributaries , including at Silver Stream .
A state-led investigation has found that a retention pond at the Stewart Air National Guard Base at Stewart International Airport is the source of the water contamination .
“ The contaminant is related to firefighting foam ,” said the DEC ’ s George Heitzman at the church on Monday . The foam was used at Stewart ANG for years preceding the discovery of PFOS in the city water supply , he said .
Blood tests were conducted all last month at Cornerstone Family Healthcare on Lake Street and Harper Health on Broadway . Results from those tests are expected sometime in January .
The fact that less than a tenth of the city ’ s population signed up to have their blood tested has spurred the city and state to expand its community outreach .
“ We have to get to the grassroots of the community and help people understand , you need to get tested ,” said Baptist Temple Pastor Byron Williams . “ We can ’ t depend of the state to do that . We have to do it for ourselves .”
“ We want to make sure that everyone who lives here knows about the blood testing ,” said Elizabeth Lewis-Michl of the DOH Center for Environmental Health . The DOH is in the process of hiring a contractor to assist with outreach to medical professionals and residents in the region , she said .
We ’ re offering the blood testing because people are requesting it ,” said Lewis-Michl . However , she cautioned , learning your PFOS level “ will not tell you about a current health effect or a future health effect .”
“ Why should I go through a blood test that isn ’ t going to tell me anything ,” asked Roxy Royal . “ That ’ s what I hear
Anthony Fitzgerald said more information about PFOS needs to get out to the public .
from other people .”
DOH scientist Thomas Johnson admitted more information is needed on PFOS and its possible health effects on humans , and the state is trying to gather more information through the biomonitoring program .
The research , so far , has centered on human and animal studies , Johnson said . “ In human studies , what scientists try to do is … relate levels of PFOS in the blood to increased risk of certain type of disease ,” Johnson explained .
Human studies have shown an association with immune system , thyroid and liver function , Johnson said , but not with cancer . Animal studies involving rats and mice exposed to very high levels of PFOS over long periods of time - at “ much higher levels than in an environmental situation like this one ,” Johnson said – have seen instances of thyroid and liver cancer . “ What we need to do is minimize exposure ,” he said .
One thing is certain , PFOS is very persistent in the environment , Johnson said . Used in the past in products such as fire-fighting foam , coating additives and cleaning products , the chemical is considered “ an emerging contaminant . It is not fully regulated by the federal government and was only recently listed as a “ hazardous substance ” by the state .
“ PFOS began to get up on the radar screen about four years ago ,” said city Mayor Judy Kennedy , and the first testing for PFOS in the City of Newburgh was in 2014 .
“ They came around in 2016 and said let ’ s test for that again ,” said Kennedy , referring to the state . “ And that ’ s when ( they ) discovered that PFOS was still in the water … what we knew and what they knew was it had been there for two years .”
As of May 1 , the city had switched to using water from Brown ’ s Pond , said Kennedy , and soon switched to using water from the Catskill Aqueduct . The state is currently covering the costs for the aqueduct water and the construction of a new , city water plant , she said .
Kennedy noted the state reduced the PFOS drinking water advisory level from 200 parts per trillion to 70 parts per trillion earlier this year , just after the city switched to using water from Brown ’ s Pond . “ Nobody tried to cover it up ,” she said , addressing suspicions the city had known about the PFOS for a long time .
“ This PFOS chemical is coming primarily from the airport area ,” she said . “ That stuff has literally rolled downhill . Where did it roll downhill to ? Washington Lake .”
Kennedy described the lake , the city ’ s primary drinking water reservoir , as an indispensable “ asset ” to the city and region . The lake is currently being treated with a granular-activated carbon filtration system to remove PFOS . The treated water currently reads “ nondetect ” for PFOS , said Heitzman .
“ No one trusts enough to ever drink water from Washington Lake ever again ,” Cory Allen retorted . “ There ’ s too much mistrust to go back there .” Heitzman pledged the state would work to “ build trust ” in the community .
Test dates scheduled at Cornerstone Family Healthcare :
Thursday , Dec . 8 Friday , Dec . 9 Saturday , Dec . 10 Tuesday , Dec . 13 Thursday , Dec . 15 Saturday , Dec . 17 Tuesday , Dec . 20
* Cornerstone Family Healthcare is located at 147 Lake Street , Newburgh .
“ The truth of the matter is the city will go back to Lake Washington , probably by next fall ,” Heitzman said , before the Catskill Aqueduct is shut down for repairs in October .
In addition to the lake being cleaned , the city will have a new , state-of-the-art water filtration system operating at its water plant , DOH ’ s Bill Gilday pointed out . As a result of the cleanup , upgrades to the aging plant will address many “ basic ” water quality concerns , he said . “ There is going to be some lemonade out of this ,” Gilday said . “ This plant is going to be a much better plant .”
City manager Michael Ciaravino said the water levels at Washington Lake had been reduced through release of treated water into Silver stream , sparing the area from flooding and a possible breach in the lake ’ s earthen dam .
Ciaravino asserted the state needs to designate Silver Stream , “ the main tributary feeding into Washington Lake ,” as a class-A stream requiring a higher level of environmental monitoring and protection .
The city manager noted the retention pond at Stewart Airport was not yet being treated , and continues to flow . “ It ’ s running alongside our treated water ,” he said , but a diversion gate has been shut to separate it from the lake . “ We are not sharing that water .”
Orange County Legislator Chris Eachus said more research was needed to find out “ what PFOS does to our bodies .” He noted that private wells surrounding the airport have also been contaminated with the PFOS .
Heitzman said the state was supplying those well owners with bottled water and individual carbon filtration systems . A plan to connect some of these properties to municipal water in New Windsor is in the works , he said .
To schedule a blood test , call the DOH ’ s Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology at 518-402- 7950 or email beoe @ health . ny . gov .