Around 2016, residents of Newburgh and New Windsor were notified that their public and private drinking water sources had been contaminated with PFAS "forever chemicals" stemming from the use of firefighting foam at Stewart Air National Guard Base. PFAS has been linked to a variety of diseases and health concerns, from cancer to increased infertility.
Since then, Newburgh has pivoted from its longtime water source, Washington Lake, and fluctuated between New York City’s main water supply, the Catskill Aqueduct, and Browns Pond. Resident Jennifer Rawlison is a lifelong Newburgh resident, and an advocate with the Newburgh Clean Water Project.
“For over 100 years, Newburgh was autonomous. Washington Lake was our reservoir, our source of water, and we didn’t have to worry about permissions from others in terms of how to access it and things like that," says Rawlison. "We are fortunate that we are on the Catskill Aqueduct — many other communities I know around the nation don’t have that option — but with the contamination, it’s like we’ve lost a lot of our own power and resource.”
Despite calls from residents and lawmakers alike, cleanup has been slow going. Advocates say a military report detailing the full extent and location of the contamination isn’t expected until sometime next year, and the next question — what to do about it — could take at least a couple years to examine.
Meantime, contaminated water is still seeping into the local watershed from Stewart Air National Guard Base. Rawlison, who is also a member of the Restoration Advisory Board updating residents on the cleanup process, says the current mitigation method is to treat and filter a lot of that water at Recreation Pond. But, she says, contaminated groundwater still finds its way into cracked stormwater pipes, and Recreation Pond is frequently overwhelmed by heavy rain.
“Unfortunately any rain event seems to exacerbate everything," she explains. "We were able to take a tour of the base back in May of 2024, and I have a photo where the weir is being breached because the area that holds the clean water is very small, and the weir is not very high. And so, when the water rises, it just all goes over. And when I asked, they estimated it at about 1,800 gallons of water per minute that were breaching.”
A new report by the Air National Guard proposes two mitigation strategies.
“The two basic strategies that they’ve proposed are to create a trench system where they can capture the groundwater and treat it, and then fix up broken stormwater pipes so that groundwater doesn’t enter the stormwater pipes, and can’t reach the streams," says Dan Shapely, senior director of Riverkeeper’s Advocacy, Policy, and Planning Program. "So, in both cases, it’s meant to interrupt the flow of the groundwater that’s polluted, and prevent it from leaving the base.”
Representatives from the Air National Guard did not return a request for comment to WAMC. Shapely says the report is available for public input through September 8. If approved, the proposal would be implemented starting next year. It would cost roughly $8.5 million to construct, and $1 million a year to maintain.
“We’re supportive of these actions," he says. "We launched a ‘Speed Up the Cleanup’ campaign — Riverkeeper and the partners involved in Newburgh — in order to see just this kind of strategy implemented. We want to see actions like this.”
Rawlison says the Newburgh Clean Water Project is pleased with the overall proposal, but she feels it’s a long time coming and, truly, only a start. She hopes to see residents comment on the report and attend an upcoming meeting of the RAB to keep the momentum going.
“[To make sure] they’re reminded we’re people," she laughs. "Sometimes I feel like I have to remind them in these meetings that, at the end of the day, all of these discussions boil down to people, communities, children, the environment and our future.”
Residents can comment on the report via email to the Air National Guard. Rawlison says a public meeting is scheduled for October 22 at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center to update residents on the latest cleanup efforts.
