Six people in person and dozens more online listened as officials from the state departments of health and environmental conservation ran through their understanding so far of the water contamination in the Jenkinsville area of Queensbury.
They said they are pursuing the New York State Superfund status for the Town of Queensbury landfill and in the process of doing so hope to find the source of contamination for 16 private drinking water wells, so far, in the area. It is unclear whether the contamination comes from the closed town landfill or from one of the three other closed landfills nearby.
Testing remains to be completed on about a dozen private wells and retesting will occur on six, officials said.
The questions from the live stream chat--about a dozen, which Town Supervisor John Strough read and the state officials answered--covered a range of issues mainly pertaining to health of people and their pets. The concern for the environment and wild animals was also an issue.
State officials said they are mainly concerned with ground water and drinking water at this time but will be testing surface water such as nearby Mud Pond in the future.
If the people who came to watch and listen are an indication, the presentation helped calm fears but did not alleviate them fully.
“I believe they’re trying, and I believe they’re trying because we made a lot of noise,” said Michele Harding, who lives in the area. Her well water is contaminated with 1,4-Dioxane and her household receives free drinking water from the DEC as part of the clean up and mitigation efforts.
Her husband Noel has been very vocal and has acted at times as a de facto spokesman for the neighborhood.
The officials did their best to assuage health concerns, reiterating that the 1,4-Dioxane found in private wells is only slightly above the state Maximum Contamination Levels, that the maximum level at one part per billion is exceptionally low for this contaminant, and that New York is the only state in the country that even has a standard for that chemical in the water.
"This is a trigger for reducing exposure, but it's not a bright line,” said the DOH’s Tom Johnson. He is an expert in neurotoxicity in the DOH’s Center for Environmental Health.
The one part per billion standard is a trigger that sets the state looking, but it is not a trigger that makes the experts fear for public safety. Justin Deming of the Department of Health said the MCL is purposefully set so low that pregnant women and children can drink the water for a lifetime without fear. Many on the staff indicated that the wells considered contaminated were only slightly above the maximum level.
Johnson said that experiments on lab animals exposed to this level of toxin for their entire lifetimes can cause cancer, but that is a very extreme condition, he said.
Still Michele Harding said, the trouble for her is that no human trials have been conducted.
“It’s always going to be a concern for us,” she said.
Sean Mahar, the chief of staff for the DEC, said that the immediate goal is to make sure the people whose wells are contaminated are getting a clean source of drinking water, and that they continue to get that until the problem is permanently fixed. The water delivery from the state to the homes is temporary. The next step is to evaluate plans and the final step is to create a permanent solution for clean water to the home, he said.
Who will pay for it remains a concern for residents. By law, any resident who wants to extend Queensbury town water to their unserved neighborhood must agree to pay for the extension, a cost in the millions of dollars. People on the chat wondered if the state had options to help defray costs.
"All potential mitigation options are going to be on the table,” Mahar said. Part of the reason the state is pursuing Superfund status for the location is that the research and analysis should figure out who is responsible.
However, many of the answers about which landfill is contributing to the contamination are still unanswered and may not come for years. Once they have a clear understanding, Mahar said, "We're going to use every tool in the toolbox" to get the funding to help.
For Jenkinsville resident Michael Trackey, who watched from the Queensbury Town meeting room, the discussion was moving in the right direction, but he feels the town water expansion should a be a town issue. After all, he said, the water fountains at nearby Ridge/Jenkinsville Park are open to all, and they feed off wells.
“I think the opportunity is to do something really great for the community,” he said after the meeting ended.
The state has tested the drinking fountains but the results, which take about six weeks, have not returned, staff said. Mahar promised continued discussions and said periodic updates on the progress would be published.
For complete coverage of the issue, click here.
For a newsletter published by the DEC and DOH on this topic, click here.