T IMES
MID
DoD agrees
to remediate
air base
HUDSON
Vol. 30, No. 51
3
DECEMBER 19 - 25, 2018
Bell
ringers
Page 30
3
ONE DOLLAR
Last
minute
gifts
SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR
Cleaning up Newburgh
World Mission Church of God cleans the streets
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
After years of frustration and
silence, the Department of Defense
(DoD) will finally begin remediation of
the PFOs (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid)
contamination at Stewart Air National
Guard Base.
The contamination dates back
to May of 2016, when the City of
Newburgh’s drinking water reservoir,
Washington Lake, was discovered to be
contaminated with PFOS from Aqueous
Fire Fighting Foam used at the air base.
The contamination was discovered at
Recreation Pond next to the base, which
then moved through Silver Stream, into
Washington Lake.
In response to the contamination a
$20 million dollar Granular Activated
Carbon treatment plant was installed at
Washington Lake by New York State to
filter out PFOS. The treatment plant has
yet to begin filtering out PFOS due to
questions on the ability for the plant to
filter short chain PFOS.
The current treatment plant does
not remediate the contamination at
Recreation Pond, which was declared by
the DEC as a Superfund Site. The water
coming from the pond has been diverted
away from Washington Lake ultimately
into the Hudson River.
“Right now the State of New York
continues to pollute the Hudson River,”
said former City Manager, Michael
Ciaravino. “I ask that we have all hands
on deck to rectify the issue. The DoD is
Continued on page 4
Rain and 30 degree weather didn’t deter the group from continuing to do their work.
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
Volunteers cluttered the streets
of Newburgh, covered in panchos,
armed with rakes, rubber gloves, and
leaf blowers to clean up the streets
of the city on Sunday. The World
Mission Society Church of God from
New Windsor organized the cleanup
as part of a worldwide “Reduce Crime
Together” movement.
More than 200 volunteers cleaned up
City Terrace, Lander Street, Johnston
Street, and an abandoned lot used as a
playground by kids on Johnston St. The
volunteers consisted of members of the
church and college students from the
Church’s Save the Earth from A to Z
(ASEZ) initiative.
Rain and 30 degree weather didn’t
deter the group from continuing to do
their work. More than 50 bags of trash
were collected by the group.
WWW.MIDHUDSONTIMES.COM
“The cleanup today was a group
effort coming together in unity,”
said volunteer, Esterlyn Cherydant.
“Knowing we are coming together
for a great cause made it even more
motivating. The mayor, we heard he
needed the support, we wanted to make
an impact with people around. It got
everyone together and I was excited
through the whole thing to get the job
done.”
Continued on page 2