NYS Senate Passes Bill in Response to Groundwater Contamination

The New York Senate passed important legislation today regarding the groundwater contamination issue in Hoosick Falls and its surrounding areas.

Bill S6824A provides a date-of-discovery rule for civil actions based on exposure to toxic substances, which is beneficial to the injured person as he or she often does not know at the time of the injury that harm is occurring. Discovery of an injury may only occur when cancer or another slow-developing illness arises. Before this legislation, claims could be barred before the injured party even realized that they had been injured.

This bill will extend the allowable period of time for filing a claim when a site is identified as a threat to the health of the public or the environment. This will be based on either the date when the harm was discovered or when the site was classified as a Superfund site, whichever occurs later.

The bill, which can be viewed below, still needs to be signed by Governor Cuomo.

Residents of Hoosick Falls, Petersburgh and other communities who believe they may have been impacted by the PFOA water contamination are encouraged to submit a contact form.