Hoosick Falls To Receive Nearly $200,000 For PFOA Related Lost Revenues
By Jackolyn Houghton
The Hoosick Falls village Board held a special meeting on Monday, June 25 to discuss and approve two resolutions. The resolutions were regarding payment in the amount of $195,478.50 for lost water and sewer revenue by Saint Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, Inc. and a Tolling Agreement between the village and the two companies. Saint Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, Inc. are the responsible parties for the contaminated PFOA water source that was uncovered by resident Michael Hickey over three years ago.
Mayor Allen stated that approving the payment would cover the lost revenue for fiscal years 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. He also stated that the payment’s acceptance will not be a full satisfaction and the village retains its rights for all other costs and lost revenue including what was in previous payments. There was a motion made by Trustee Bushner and seconded by Trustee Lewis that allowed Mayor Allen to open the item up for public discussion. However, before the item was discussed Mayor Allen moved to establish the second resolution, the Tolling Agreement.
This agreement states that the Village of Hoosick Falls, Saint Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, Inc. would not be able to sue each other for one year. A clause was introduced stating that the Village of Hoosick Falls held the right to notify Saint Gobain Performance Plastics within thirty days if they intended to sue the companies. Attorney David Engel stood up and explained, “Saint Gobain asked for a Tolling agreement and the bottom line is that we were not going to agree to the Tolling if we do not see payment and they will not agree to the payment without the Tolling agreement. The Tolling was not going to be a traditional full year, we have a unique agreement in that we can invoke a thirty day if needed.”
He added that the agreement was to allow for additional time to collect more data from the contaminated sites and that data would be used to incite further claim that the village has the grounds to bring a lawsuit. He also mentioned that the village was paying for the electricity and manning the building and that is accumulating and growing the claim. Mayor Allen then opened both items for public discussion. Hoosick Falls resident Jean Andrick was interested to know if these two resolutions stopped them from having their own personal claims against the companies. David Enge stated that personal claims would not be hindered by the resolutions brought forth tonight. He said that the resolutions tonight only cover the lost revenue for the three fiscal years.
Resident Doug Talin said, “Every year our property depreciates, and if we have to approve the second in order to approve the first, I object.” After hearing additional concerns and statements from residents the Village Board moved to approve the two resolutions through separate roll call votes; both passed unanimously.
Immediately following the votes, Mayor Allen stated that the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) were here to present updates on their investigations. Both resolutions have been uploaded to the Village’s website located online at http://www.villageofhoosickfalls.com.
DOH Update:
Gary Homes and Betsy Michael of DOH presented the findings of the first round of blood samplings from individuals that agreed to be tested. Michael’s stated that 2,900 people were tested and of that 1,640 were on village water. At the 50% mark half of these folks were above and half of them were below the standard level of parts per trillion. She said, “this data gives us patterns for length of time residents were exposed and it extends to at least 25 years if not more than 40 years of living in the village.” She reminded everyone that testing began in February of 2016 and was broken down into a ten month sampling period; where the first set of tests to the last set of tests [during this time period] showed a decrease in levels by up to 40%. She stated that this was reassuring. She then explained that DOH would begin round two of testing on June 26 and that phones open at 8:30 am. She mentioned that letters will be mailed to residents which include an identification number. She encouraged residents to wait for the letters before contacting DOH, adding that this will ensure that samples from round one will be matched appropriately to samples from round two. She also indicated that this second round of sampling will be much more professional and organized as it will be handled by a lab. Mayor Allen stated that Twin Rivers Medical would be accepting anyone who wished to be tested at no cost to them. Michael’s agreed and mentioned that requests could be made to DOH either by phone or online and they would be mailed a lab order which then should be brought to the lab. She stated that the lab orders are good for 90 days. Michael’s then stated that in round one testing people were offered specific tests for chemicals and in round two everyone will be tested for all six of the chemicals. Resident Marianne Stevens asked how her daughter who no longer lived in Hoosick Falls would be able to be tested. Michael’s stated that anyone could request a lab order on behalf of their family members no longer residing in Hoosick Falls. She also encouraged anyone who has special circumstances to contact DOH. Another resident asked how DOH planned to conduct outreach to bring awareness of the second round of samples. Homes stated that they brought over 300 flyers and would be posting them in areas of high traffic. Additionally, he stated that word-of-mouth would be the best mode of communication and asked for residents to help spread the word.
DEC Update:
Will Shaw, Sue Edwards and Ian Beilby of DEC gave updates on their ongoing investigations. Beilby stated that in the beginning DEC did not have the authority to regulate the chemicals such as PFOA, so they began to classify them, which allowed them to regulate them and open superfund sites. He said, “We were able to lock companies into consent orders to begin company regulations.” For the municipal water supply, a call came out asking if there was another supply to utilize. The NYS governor was on board and started a DEC preliminary assessment and consent orders that demanded the companies do a study with DEC and the community. What DEC is looking for is a supply that is relative to the area, sustainable and protects human health. These are the standard criteria for consideration of a new water source. Edwards talked to the nature of what sites were reviewed as potential sites for Hoosick Falls, citing the Walloomsac and Hoosick rivers, both noted as too shallow and contained PFCs. Another source mentioned was the Tomhannock Reservoir located just before the city of Troy along route 7. Edwards said, “Currently the village uses 500 gallons per day and that is general average use. It can go to 800 gallons and that the treatment plant was designed to sustain at least a million. We need to identify what the future use will be and locate a site that will be sustainable for years to come.” She went on to say that a new ground water source would need to be viable and hold enough volume to sustain use, and be free from new and existing contaminates. She showed pictures of ground sources that were deemed unsustainable and others that warranted further investigation. Some talk of linking Troy’s water supply was mentioned and resident concerns became apparent; talking about Troy’s failing infrastructure and poor management of their system. Mayor Allen mentioned a resident brought up another source in Brood Brook located in North Adams, Massachusetts. He states that the brook runs into Pownal, VT and could hold a solution but states that further investigation will need to be done. Shaw stated that after completion of field work that DEC expects to incorporate new data from the current superfund sites which include McCaffery Street, Liberty Street, Former Oak; John Street, and the Transfer Station and will work to get a final report out in 2019 that issues a new plan and will ask for community input. Results will be announced among the final report. Trustee Pine asked if protective human health is a practical manner. Shaw answered him by saying that baseline levels have to be met that make it a viable source and that all sources of water must have rigorous testing of chemicals and compounds to be sure they meet the criteria. Trustee Pine then asks if PFOA is a compound and suggests that the current standard is 70 parts per trillion. Shaw agreed. Michael Hickey thanked the Village Board, DEC and DOH for everything that they have done and continue to do for the residents of the town and village of Hoosick Falls. He said, “I’m glad we are going slowly. Last year we were about to sign off for $1 million with no rights and now we have gotten $500,000 and have not signed away any rights. It’s always been confusing because you can’t see it, taste it, or smell it so it does not seem real. People will see a reduction in levels by half and it will be important to note that these people here have stepped up and done a good job.” He also stated that companies are beginning to do their job too, by going after their suppliers. Hickey said, “We are so far ahead of other states because of the Board and their compassion.” More concerns about air pollution were raised by residents. Shaw referred to the “Air Experts” and asked residents to hold all questions until the next community meeting when they would be present. Mayor Allen asked for an update with what is in the rubber smell for the next regular meeting. DEC agreed to have that for them. DEC encourages residents to call when they notice unfamiliar smells. Sue Edwards can be contacted at 518-402-9676 for all tips and suggestions.
Additional Agenda Items:
Corey Wagner was reappointed to return to work as a police officer effective June 15. A motion to accept the reappointment was made by Trustee Bushner and seconded by Trustee Ryan. All were in favor.
Mayor Allen had an important update and had Village Attorney Andrew Gilchrist speak about one piece of pending litigation against the Village of Hoosick Falls. Gilchrist said, “The prior law firm has demanded to be payed—it is a significant amount of money.” He stated that the filed statement of claim is for $582,000. He says he has done everything he could to dismiss this claim, but was unsuccessful. He stated that they did serve and file for a substantial portion of the claim to be dismissed and it is now pending with the courts. The prior law firm has until July to respond and then Gilchrist will respond back. The potential dismissed amount is in the sum of $460,000.