PFAS

In New York, as a result of the COVID-19 response, a meeting at which recommended maximum contaminant levels for three chemicals were to come up for a vote has been postponed.

After traces of PFAS chemicals were found in water samples taken near the Dunn Landfill in Rensselaer, activists are stepping up their campaign to convince the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to close the landfill.

PFAS contamination has sent communities around the Northeast scrambling.

In today’s Congressional Corner, Democratic Representative Antonio Delgado of New York’s 19th House district continues his conversation with WAMC’s Alan Chartock.

Two Democratic state lawmakers from the Capital Region are introducing new legislation to ban the burning of substances containing PFAS chemicals.

Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler met with officials from Norlite Tuesday after a federal lawsuit filed last week claimed the company’s facility incinerated PFAS-based substances. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken the next step toward setting drinking water limits for two PFAS chemicals — PFOA and PFOS. Environmentalists say the step is small and they want to see quicker, bolder action.

A new report shows states are stepping up to protect public health from harmful chemicals.

New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney was at the site of a Newburgh lake where PFOS contamination was revealed in 2016 today, calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to immediately take up PFAS legislation passed in the House this month.

An environmental group believes the class of toxic chemicals at the center of contamination crises in communities like Hoosick Falls and Newburgh can likely be detected in all major water supplies in the United States.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed the PFAS Action Act. The legislation package includes 11 bills, two that were authored by New York Congressmen in the Hudson Valley whose districts include communities battling PFOA and PFOS.

Several Democratic U.S. House representatives are calling on their colleagues to pass a bill Friday concerning PFAS chemicals. It’s a bill that President Trump’s senior advisors will recommend he veto.

The annual federal defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, does not include certain provisions that would address PFAS water contamination. A Washington-based nonprofit group accuses Congress of caving on cleaning up the toxic substances.

Vermont agencies are using aerial drones to study toxic chemical contamination underneath an airport.

With news that a temporary filtration system is back on track at Stewart Air National Guard base, officials are keeping a close eye on the timeline for the project. The remedial measure is supposed to address PFAS contamination.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced the completion of a study by the companies at the center of the investigation into contaminated water in Hoosick Falls. WAMC’s Southern Adirondack Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports the study examines possible options for a new municipal drinking water source.

Advocates for clean drinking water say proposed new limits by the New York State Health Department for PFOA and other chemicals in the water supply linked to cancer and other serious illnesses are too high, and will lead to serious health problems.

The U.S. Department of Defense is establishing a PFAS Task Force to address contamination at more than 400 military installations and surrounding communities across the nation. Stewart Air National Guard base in Newburgh is one of those places.

A New Hampshire legislative committee has voted to approve some of the nation's toughest drinking water standards for a class of toxic chemicals that have caused widespread contamination and sparked health concerns.

The state of Vermont has released a new sampling plan for PFAS chemicals.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer has signed two executive orders aimed at safeguarding the public from PFAS chemicals. He wants to prevent the kind of drinking water contamination that has occurred in Newburgh and elsewhere in the state and country.

Today, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee is holding a legislative hearing on a series of bills related to PFAS contaminants, a class of compounds discovered in water supplies across the country.

Two upstate New York Congressmen this week introduced bills aimed at protecting the public from exposure to PFAS chemicals, which have contaminated water supplies in communities across the Northeast.

Two New York congressmen on Thursday introduced separate pieces of legislation around the manmade group of chemicals known as PFAS.

A recent accidental release of firefighting foam from a hangar at New York Stewart International Airport in Orange County is the subject of debate. The foam made its way into a stream, and testing on behalf of the City of Newburgh shows high levels of PFOA and PFOS. But the company that operates the hangar says the foam does not contain PFOA or PFOS. The state is awaiting separate results.

The federal government has told Newburgh that it will not reimburse the city for expenses incurred from PFAS contamination emanating from Stewart Air National Guard base. The interim city manager says the response is unacceptable. Meantime, the area around the base is one of eight communities selected for a government PFAS study.

Earlier today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler laid out the agency’s action plan to address PFAS, a family of chemicals that includes PFOA and PFOS. PFOA and PFOS are toxic substances that have contaminated drinking water in a number of New York communities, including Hoosick Falls and Newburgh.