PFOA Contamination Study Begins In Petersburgh Taconic Plant
More than two years after the Taconic Plastics plant in Petersburgh, New York first alerted the state of concerns about contamination around its Route 22 facility, the company is beginning an in-depth investigation into the extent of PFOA contamination in the area.
Taconic will commence with doing soil tests and installing groundwater wells in order to study the actual extent of PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, contamination.
Following the discovery of PFOA contamination in the Village of Hoosick Falls’ water supply in 2016, Taconic approached the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Health Department regarding previous PFOA contamination at its Petersburgh facility.
Due to major concerns about the negative health effects this PFOA contamination might cause for residents in the years to come, Taconic signed a consent order with New York State requiring the installation of a filtration system on Petersburgh’s municipal water plant. Testing and filtration systems on private wells in the area were also mandated.
In addition, Taconic was required to investigate the scope of the contamination to see how much of the surrounding area had been affected, and to look into ways of remediation.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation recently announced that a report detailing the investigation’s discoveries will be released in 2019.
The DEC stated in its announcement that, “the information collected during the site investigation may also support the conclusion that no action, or no further action, is needed to address site-related contamination.”
There is currently an ongoing class action lawsuit against Taconic that has been filed by Petersburgh residents.
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On August 8th the Rensselaer County Department of Health released a statement to the Town of Petersburgh residents that a leak had been identified in the water system that required the activation of Well #2, a well that tested above the federal PFOA advisory level of 70 parts per trillion.
At the direction of New York’s Governor’s office, the state Department of Health (DOH) will maintain a steady presence in Hoosick Falls on a regular schedule, in part to answer any questions residents may have regarding the PFOA contamination of their water. The DOH will also be able to address the remedial efforts of the state and federal governments, such as a blood testing program and other efforts to assess the extent of the harm caused by PFOA,.