T IMES
MID
HUDSON
Cuomo
promises
stricter PFOS
and PFOA
regulations
Vol. 31, No. 28
3
JULY 10 - 16, 2019
3
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musicians Learn
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SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR
A F abulous F ourth
By ILYSSA DALY
After government officials and
environmental activists rallied together
in front of the City of Newburgh’s Water
Filtration Plant in order to protest the
high levels of chemicals PFOA and PFOS
in drinking water, Governor Andrew
Cuomo finally announced that the State
of New York will begin adopting stricter
maximum contaminant levels.
On July 9, Assemblyman Jonathan G.
Jacobson and Senator James Skoufis,
along with other officials and activists,
called on Governor Andrew Cuomo
to set statewide chemical maximum
contaminant levels, which would create
less toxic drinking water throughout
New York. They also urged to implement
testing for emerging contaminants
in every public water system, which is
required by the Emerging Contaminant
Monitoring Act of 2017.
During the rally, Senator Skoufis
mentioned a bill that had been recently
passed, which banned the use and
manufacturing of PFAS chemicals in
firefighting foam in New York.
Back in 2016, it was discovered
that Newburgh’s water source was
contaminated by the Department of
Defense when the New York Air National
Guard Base “discharg[ed] firefighting
Continued on page 2
Brian Wolfe
Residents gathered on the lawn of Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh last Thursday to watch the annual Fourth of July Fireworks.
SUNY head still interested in Grand Street
By ILYSSA DALY
The future of Innovation Grand Street
has remained a mystery ever since SUNY
Orange left the project in the spring of
2019.
Orange County had originally
purchased three buildings on Grand
Street: American Legion Building, the
Masonic Lodge, and the YMCA building
back in 2013. These buildings were bought
with the understanding that they would
be used by the college. A few years later,
SUNY Orange created Innovation Grand
Street, a plan to help boost job training
and workforce development that used all
three buildings.
“We wanted to figure out what part
of the community college mission
could be best served in those buildings,
particularly in Newburgh,” said Dr.
Kristine Young, the President of SUNY
Orange in a phone interview.
Innovation Grand Street, became “fully
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fleshed out” at the end of 2018, said Young.
“We designed the project around three
buildings. We had a plan to submit the
Empire State Development [for a grant]
two years in a row. The American
Legion and the Masonic Lodge were in
better shape structurally, and then we
were going to follow this year with a
second application for the YMCA. The
application [for the Empire State Grant]
Continued on page 3