Uncovering Water Pollution in Hoosick Falls

The mayor of Hoosick Falls in upstate New York announced Thursday that a new carbon filtration system has begun to clean the municipality's water — but getting to that point took a year and a half, and many twists and turns along the way. 

In the summer of 2014, a private citizen, Michael Hickey, warned village leaders about the water contamination after he had it tested. (He was suspicious because of the high rate of cancer.) But it took several months for the news to reach townspeople, and another several months before the village, state or federal began to address the problem, according to Brendan Lyons, an investigative reporter for the Times Union newspaper.

The contaminant is perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a chemical used to make Teflon and which has been linked to cancer and other illnesses. But at first, state health officials said the village did not need to warn residents against drinking the water, or even widely publicize the test results. In November 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency disagreed and declared the water at Hoosick Falls unsafe to consume.

Finally, last month, following a Times Union report, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a number of steps, including naming the village a Superfund site, which will leverage funds for a thorough clean-up.

“The governor is going all out on this,” Lyons said. “Many believe he’s saying we’re not gonna be the next Flint.”

But some residents in the town say the response by all levels of government has fallen short. An information sheet distributed by the EPA, Lyons says, raises as many questions as it answers.

"Imagine how confusing it is if it says that you shouldn't take long showers or baths, especially if you have open wounds or things of that nature," Lyons said. "I don't know how somebody with a newborn could feel comfortable bathing their newborn in the water."

The New York City law firm Weitz & Luxenberg filed a federal class-action lawsuit Wednesday against Honeywell International and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, accusing them of negligence for letting PFOA seep into the village's water.

The filtration system still needs to be tested, and the village's pipes need to be flushed, a process that could last several weeks.

Lyons spoke to WNYC’s All Things Considered host Jami Floyd.