More than 28,000 people in New York and more than 70,000 people in Philadelphia ‘exposed to cancerous toxins in drinking water’

Blood tests have been ordered for the entire population of a New York town amid fears toxins have infected the drinking water supply.

More than 28,000 people in Newburgh are feared exposed to the chemical perfluorooctane sulfonate (or, PFOS), which has been linked to cancer.

It comes just days after lawsuits were filed in two Pennsylvania counties where 70,000 people were exposed to the same substance.

The incidences ominous echo the lead-infection scandal in Flint, Michigan’s water supply, which is still ongoing after two years.

Newburgh’s toxins scare comes after tests found PFOS in the city’s drinking water supply at levels far exceeding federal guidelines.

PFOS has been used for years in firefighting foam at the nearby military air base.

Meanwhile, the US District Court is sifting through four lawsuits brought by residents in Pennsylvania’s Bucks County and Montgomerie County, which have also recorded PFOS levels in the drinking water supply that cross the federally-permitted limit.

Both counties have nearby Navy bases, where PFOS was used.

The suits, which have been vehemently dismissed by lawyers representing the counties, are seeking compensation for 70,000 residents.

For Newburgh, it is just the latest crisis in this chronically struggling city along the Hudson River, residents beset by poverty, high crime and boarded-up homes.

‘The fact that I’ve been drinking that water for years, and my daughter’s been drinking and bathing in it, that’s shocking to me,’ says Stuart Sachs, an artist who moved to Newburgh from Brooklyn 14 years ago.

‘My daughter is 11. What diseases is she going to have to look forward to? It’s scary.’

Results of the blood testing, expected to be released early next year, won’t tell people whether they’re actually at increased risk for any specific health problem, but will show how their exposure compares to others.

Similar testing has been done in several smaller communities with water contaminated with PFOS or its close chemical cousin, PFOA, which is used in nonstick and stain-repellent coatings.

About 1,500 people were tested near an air base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and found to have slightly elevated levels of the chemicals.

In the rural villages of Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh, New York, where plastics plants are being held liable for PFOA in public and private wells, tests of about 3,000 residents that began in February have found PFOA blood levels as high as 500 times the national average.

For Newburgh, about an hour’s drive north of New York City, a potential health crisis was the last thing it needed.

The city, which served as George Washington’s Revolutionary War headquarters, was humming with machine shops, clothing factories, shipyards and brickyards in the early 20th century.

But in the 1960s, a slow decline began after a new bridge over the Hudson River diverted traffic away from the city’s commercial center.

Factories started shutting down or moving to the new highway corridor outside the city. Now the city is notorious for derelict abandoned buildings, drug gangs and violent crime.

In 2014, PFOS was detected in 175-acre Lake Washington, the city’s drinking water supply, at a level 170 parts per trillion, well below the 400 ppt limit then recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

When the EPA set a new level of 70 ppt for short-term exposure in May 2016, the city declared an emergency and shifted to a new water source.

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has identified nearby Stewart Air National Guard Base as the source of the PFOS, suspecting the chemical, used for years in firefighting emergencies and drills, got into a stream leading to the city reservoir.
Free blood tests are being offered through November 19 to any resident who makes an appointment at one of seven clinics.

But getting people tested in Newburgh presents special challenges.

More than a third of residents live in poverty and more than 46 percent of households speak a language other than English at home.

‘Newburgh is a very poor city, and special recognition has to be given to the fact that people who are really struggling, really at the edge, are going to need extra help getting out, learning about it,’ says Sachs, whose sculpture studio is in one of Newburgh’s most run-down and crime-ridden neighborhoods.

‘On my street, people have vaguely heard there was an issue with the water.’

Newburgh resident Dorice Barnwell, who works as a medical case manager, says she knocked on doors in her own four-story apartment building and found nobody had heard about the blood-testing program, despite several public meetings and media reports.

She says information should be sent home with schoolchildren and posted at street corners, on buses and in shopping centers.

‘We need to get this information out at all levels to everyone,’ she says.

‘I personally sent out a mass phone text to everyone in my address book encouraging them to call the number to schedule an appointment.’

Dr. Nathan Graber, director of the state health agency’s Center for Environmental Health, says his department is translating materials into Spanish and Creole and engaging with the city’s religious leaders, school superintendent and community groups to improve outreach.
Even though officials have stressed blood tests won’t diagnose specific illnesses, some residents hope they will shed some light on nagging health worries.

Tamie Hollins says her 18-year-old son’s sudden death in 2010 was attributed to natural causes, but now she wonders if PFOS had anything to do with it.

‘I’m always thinking about this, trying to find answers about what happened to my baby,’ she says.

‘We were always very health-conscious and drank lots and lots of water, because water is life, right? Now I wonder about that.’

Written by Mia DeGraaf and published by The Daily Mail ~ November 14, 2016.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml