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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, January 2, 2019
New drinking water standards weighed
BY KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
The New York State Drinking Water Quality Council
he’s recommended new water standards for New York
State, the highest in the nation. The increase in maximum
contaminant levels (MCL) comes after three years of
water contamination at Stewart Air National Guard.
“After careful consideration and collaboration
with drinking water quality experts and water system
operators, this council has recommended the nation’s
most protective maximum contaminant levels for
unregulated contaminants in drinking water,” said
New York State Health Commissioner, Dr. Howard
Zucker. “The council’s actions further demonstrate the
importance of protecting the health and wellbeing of its
citizens and I will take their recommendation under the
close advisement.”
The current MCLs for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate
(PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) are at 70
parts per trillion. The recommendation of the council is
10 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA.
PFOA is a chemical used for non-stick, stain resistant,
and water repellent products. PFOS is the chemical
used in Aqueous Firefighting Foam (AFF). PFOS was
found in the the City of Newburgh drinking water,
Washington Lake Reservoir originating at Stewart Air
National Guard Airport. The firefighting foam ran off
into Recreation Pond, flowing through Silver Stream into
the lake.
“These stricter standards are particularly important
given the Trump administration’s recent easing of other
water and air pollution standards and the continuing
problems at Washington Lake,” said Assemblyman
Jonathan Jacobson. “I applaud the efforts of our federal
representatives securing these critical first efforts on
behalf of Newburgh and surrounding areas which have
been polluted from the discharged at Stewart. We must
stop the flow of PFOS and PFOA into Washington Lake
before we can even think of using it again.”
The new regulations also include MCLs for 1,4-dioxane,
a chemical used as a stabilizer in solvents, paint strippers,
greases and wax. The recommendation 1,4-dioxane is 1
part per billion.
The recommendation goes to the health commissioner
for consideration. He will decide to accept or decline the
proposed MCLs. After the regulation is put into the New
York State Register followed by a 60 day public comment
period.
The regulations will go into effect after the publication
of a Notice of Adoption in the New York State Register.
Once adopted all public water systems must test their
water within the allotted time frame.
Lujan seeks plastic bag ban for Orange County
Continued from page 1
for the use of plastic bags, the entire fee can go to Ulster
County or a portion of the fee can go to retailers.
All of the logistics behind a ban in Orange County
are unclear being that Lujan is looking to discuss with
Town of Newburgh
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Orange County Legislators
options that will be suitable
to the population. The topic of
poverty is high on the list. Lujan
proposes that food pantries and
those on food stamps would be
exempt from the plastic ban.
“I want to do this is in a way
that is considerate of our entire
community,” said Lujan. “I put
options on the table and said let’s
all do this together. We want to
make sure that the impact is not
Orange County Legislator a negative impact. What we have
Kevindaryan
Lujan seen in other municipalities has
has taken the lead on not been to the detriment of the
opening up discussions community.”
for a plastic bag ban in A potential implementation
mechanism for the ban would be
Orange County.
the Orange County Department
of Health. Lujan is hopeful that a resolution can be
implemented by 2020. He would recommend for retailers
to have a year notice in preparation.
“People need to understand a conversation about
plastic bags is not about a party issue, this is about
people’s health,” said Lujan. “This is no a problem for my
generation this is problem for my brother’s generation
and our children. This is something that is to our
detriment, if we continue to use plastic bags our rivers
will get worse.”
The next step after a plastic bag ban, would be bans on
styrofoam and plastic straws.
I n B rief
Town sets reorganization
Residents of the Town of Newburgh are advised
that the annual reorganization meeting of the Town
Council will take place on Monday, January 14 at
Town Hall, 1496 Route 300. As is true every year,
at that time all appointments will be made for the
coming year (including the hiring of attorneys and
appointments to vacancies on the Planning, Zoning,
Ethics and other boards) and the establishment of
administrative guidelines for the coming year will
be determined.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m., as will be true of
all official Town meetings throughout 2019.
Fire destroys Meadow Hill home
Fire early Sunday night destroyed a single-family
house 128 Heather Circle in Meadow Hill .
The home was fully involved in flames when
firefighters arrived on the scene. It was initially
called in as a boiler fire.
The two-alarm blaze in the Winona Lake fire
district brought out mutual aid support from the Dan
Leghorn and City of Newburgh fire departments.
Coldenham and Cronomer Valley were on rescue
standby.
Town of Newburgh EMS and Police and Central
Hudson also responded along with the identification
unit of the police department.
Auto repair shop damaged in fire
An auto repair shop in the city’s west end
sustained heavy damage in a fire last week.
The three-alarm blaze at 842 Broadway was called
in about 11:30 p.m. Thursday night with heavy
smoke pouring out the front of the 60-foot by 65-foot
structure. It wasn’t declared under control until
about 2:30 a.m.
All off-duty Newburgh firefighters were called
in along with crews from West Point, Stewart Air
Guard, and Vails Gate.
No injuries were reported.
K-9 helps apprehend suspect
A Newburgh man on the run for the last seven
months was apprehended by Newburgh City Police
K-9 “Lee” early Friday morning.
Police K-9 Officer Roman Scuadroni was patrolling
the west end neighborhood of the City of Newburgh
around 1:22 a.m. near Third Street and Valley Avenue
when he spotted Martin Ochoa-Cardosa, who was
wanted on felony domestic violence charges. When
the officer tried to stop Ochoa-Cardosa, he fled on
foot at which time K-9 Lee was deployed. He fled
through several yards but was caught by the K-9
without further incident.
Ochoa-Cardosa was wanted for criminal mischief
and criminal contempt and was also charged with
resisting arrest. He is also wanted by State Police at
the Montgomery barracks for resisting arrest and
by Goshen Village Police for false personation.