T IMES
MID
HUDSON
Vol. 30, No. 47
3
NOVEMBER 21 - 27, 2018
3
ONE DOLLAR
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Page 32 Page 11B
SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR
W inter A rrives E arly
Radiation
leak?
City releases letter from
1992 detailing allegations
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
A letter released by Newburgh City
Manager, Michael Ciaravino, reveals an
allegation from 1992 reporting radiation
levels near leaking drums in a landfill in
Stewart Airport.
“An individual identified radiation
levels near some leaking drums in a dump
like areas at a Stewart Air Force Base
compound in New York. The radiation
levels about 20 mR/hr, were identified
with an old civil defense type survey
instrument,” read the letter.
The letter was addressed to the
Department of the Air Force, USAF
Radioisotope Committee from March 4
1992 from L.J. Callan, Director Division of
Radiation Safety and Safeguards. The Air
National Guard released two documents
in response to the letter. One from May 8
1992 from the Federal Projects Sections of
the Bureau of Eastern Remedial Action
Division of Hazardous Waste Remediation
to the Air National Guard.
This letter states that it is the
recommendation for the landfill to be left
off the New York State registry of inactive
hazardous waste sites.
The conclusion was based off
score sheets from the EPA from 1991,
a site inspection report from 1989, a
Tectonic
Engineering
Consultants
Environmental Site Assessment in 1989
and the investigation of buried pesticide
containers in 1986.
Continued on page 4
Carl Aiello
A premature blast of winter last week didn’t keep people away from Downing Park on Sunday.
Water forum leaves unanswered questions
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
The Department of Defense and the U.S.
Air Force broke their silence on Thursday
with a forum on water contamination.
The New York State Department of Health
and the New York State Department of
Environment Conservation were invited
to the meeting but were instructed not to
take part in the discussions.
This meeting takes place about two
years after the discovery of PFOs
(Perfluorooctane Sulfonate) in the
Washington Lake Reservoir which led
to the declaration of the Superfund Site.
The contamination originated from
the aqueous firefighting foam (AFF)
used by the Air National Guard leaking
into a retention pond, that seeped into
Washington Lake through Silver Stream.
This has forced the City of Newburgh to
move its drinking water to the Catskill
Aqueduct and temporarily to Brown’s
Pond while the aqueduct undergoes
maintenance.
Tables were laid out at the Newburgh
Armory Unity Center for members of
WWW.MIDHUDSONTIMES.COM
the community to speak with officials
while a closed door meeting took
place with Maj. Gen. John Henderson,
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force,
Installations, Environment and Energy,
Robert McMahon, Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Sustainment to represent
the air force, City Manager, Michael
Ciaravino, State Senator elect James
Skoufis, Senator Chuck Schumer, the
Town of New Windsor board, and other
community members and officials.
Continued on page 4