Officials give update on cleanup efforts for water contamination in Newburgh
The city has been struggling with this years after the dangerous PFAS chemicals were found in the water supply.
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Officials gave new updates on the cleanup of the dangerous chemical contamination at the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh.
The city has been struggling with this years after the dangerous PFAS chemicals were found in the water supply.
Now, the goal is the speed up the cleanup.
“That’s the bottom line: it’s polluting our water,” says Chuck Thomas, a resident and member of the Conservation Advisory Council for the City of Newburgh.
The contamination has been traced back to the fire-fighting foams used at the guard base. The base’s Restoration Advisory Board has been monitoring the clean-up.
“We’re in the middle of the remedial investigation which delineates the vertical, lateral, horizontal extent of contamination,” says William Myer, the restoration program manager.
Officials are still investigating. Right now, they’re working on their investigation that started in 2021 and say it is on track. But they are working on taking interim actions to address groundwater and repairs for storm water.
Some residents told News 12 they’re happy to see an update. But they think the project should be further along.
“We have to pay for our mistakes and we understand that but I don’t know what to think,” says Thomas.
“There is a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done, says Blooming Grove resident and Town Council member Johanna Kiernan,
The project restoration manager said this project could take a long time and one of the challenges is programming dollars. He added that as of last year, the project has costed $23.5 million.
