Proposed bill would ban 1,4-dioxane from household products

Proposed bill would ban 1,4-dioxane from household products

SOURCE: Newsday

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/environment/1-4-dioxane-lawmakers-1.28161963

A separate proposal in the governor's budget would require manufacturers to disclose whether products contain carcinogens and other toxic materials.

Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment is seen in a 2018 news conference about Tide and other household products with high levels of 1,4-dioxane, a possible carcinogen. Photo Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan

By David M. Schwartzdavid.schwartz@newsday.com  @schwartznewsNYMarch 6, 2019 6:43 PM

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Manufacturers would be banned from selling household products such as body washes, detergents and baby products that contain a likely carcinogen found in Long Island’s drinking water under state legislation being pushed by environmentalists and water providers.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, meanwhile, has a separate proposal that would require manufacturers to disclose whether products contain carcinogens and other toxic materials.

The chemical 1,4-dioxane has been found in Long Island drinking water wells, prompting water providers to warn that rates could possibly double to help pay for the $840 million in treatment costs.

While much of the groundwater contamination has been tied to the chemical’s use in industrial solvents, the chemical also is found in household products as a byproduct of the manufacturing process. It can end up down the drain and in the aquifer through septic systems or sewage treatment plants.

“We want to prevent more of this cancer-causing substance from being introduced into the Long Island water supply,” said Stephen Liss, counsel for Assemb. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket).

Engelbright introduced a bill Monday that would prohibit cleaning and personal care products from containing 1,4-dioxane, except in trace amounts.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) had introduced a similar ban in the Senate and plans to introduce identical legislation, his office said Wednesday.

Kaminsky said the bill “sends an important message that 1,4-dioxane is in a separate category. . . . It’s one chemical that Long Islanders are particularly sensitive to.”

Product manufacturers said they’re opposed to both the ban and the proposed labeling requirement, which would give broad authority to state regulators to write disclosure rules.

Industry representatives said the detections of 1,4-dioxane are so low that they’re safe for the public.

“Consumers can continue to use these products with confidence like they do millions of times every single day — safely and effectively,” said Brian Sansoni, spokesman for the American Cleaning Institute, which represents soap, detergent and cleaning supply manufacturers.

Environmental groups and water providers said while they support Cuomo’s proposal to label products with toxic materials, they’re pressing for the ban.

“It’s clearly counterproductive to filter this toxic chemical from our water, and then recontaminate it by using shampoos, laundry soaps, and bath products that are filled with 1,4-dioxane,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

The advocacy group in 2018 found 23 of 30 household products they tested contained 1,4-dioxane, which is a byproduct from the manufacturing process, including shampoos, stain lifters, body washes and detergents. That includes products that tested above the federal recommendation of levels for skin exposure.

Dennis Kelleher, spokesman for the Long Island Water Conference, which represents water providers, said in a statement, “We must end the cycle of polluting our soil, and subsequently our groundwater, with the use of products that contain 1,4-dioxane.”

He called Cuomo’s proposal for labeling “a step in the right direction, but it is not a solution.” He compared it to labels about the harm of cigarettes, but noted some people still smoke.

Cuomo in January announced the “Consumer Chemical Awareness Act” by saying “labeling on designated products will provide consumers with the information they deserve.”

The state regulators are negotiating with manufacturers and environmental advocates on the language, officials said.

The industry group Household & Commercial Products Association said New York should consider adopting California’s model for product disclosure “to create consistency for consumers.”

“Governor Cuomo has introduced an unworkable ingredient communication proposal in his 2019 budget that is extremely vague and leaves much of the regulation up to the discretion of the commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,” according to a statement from Owen Caine, an executive vice president for the Household & Commercial Products Association.

But environmental advocates said California’s minimum for reporting contamination is too high, allowing manufacturers to evade disclosure.

“It’s at astronomically high disclosure levels,” said Kathleen Curtis, executive director of Albany-based advocacy group Clean and Healthy New York.

About 1,4-dioxane

The chemical 1,4-dioxane, designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a likely human carcinogen associated with liver and kidney damage, is the top concern of drinking water providers because it has been found widely on Long Island, and is not removed through conventional treatment methods, water providers said. The man-made chemical is found in industrial solvents and in trace amounts in cosmetics, detergents, shampoos and other home care products.

Environmentalists and health advocates said New York State should implement a new maximum contaminant level as quickly as possible to protect the public. Water providers have asked for an extended timeline to install treatment.

MRF operators come out in force against New York bottle bill expansion

SOURCE:
wastedive.com

https://www.wastedive.com/news/mrf-operators-come-out-in-force-against-new-york-bottle-bill-expansion/549529/

Dive Brief:

• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed expansion of the state's bottle bill to include non-alcoholic, uncarbonated drinks has run into well-coordinated opposition from the recycling industry and county officials. Following the release of a flyer deeming it a "threat to recycling" in February, opponents hit the capitol in Albany with concerted lobbying this past week.

• Speaking to the mechanics of maintaining profitability in a post-National Sword business environment, Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR), Waste Management, Republic Services, Waste Connections, Casella Waste Systems, the NWRA and others claimed that the proposal would cut average inbound commodity values by $14.23 per ton due in part to the loss of PET containers.

• The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) has also come out against the proposal, echoing the recycling companies' proposal for a glass-only expansion that would target “wine and liquor bottles, hard cider bottles, and non-alcoholic glass beverage containers." The Natural Resources Defense Council confirmed to Waste Dive it shares the same position.

Dive Insight:

Cuomo's bottle bill plans were introduced in January, alongside a plastic bag ban, in his FY20 budget proposal. Despite arguments that expanding eligibility to non-alcoholic beverage containers such as juice, tea-based beverages and sports drinks will decrease New York’s contribution to landfills and incinerators, the governor's proposal is running into common and concerted industry opposition.

The 10 service providers that signed onto the February flyer claim to process more than 80% of New York's recyclables. According to MRF operators, many of whom have been spending more capital to create cleaner streams, diverting valuable plastic and aluminum containers "pulls the economic rug out from under these investment investments and weakens this infrastructure." Glass, on the other hand, is largely unprofitable, with "less than 20%" being made into new products.

In its rebuttal, SMR outlined another potential spillover effect caused by the plausible reduction of valuable plastics from curbside pickups. Because ongoing recycling of thermoform plastics depends on industry’s ability to supplement the mix with a requisite share of bottle plastic and other PET, a drop in the availability of PET could hamper New York City's ongoing rigid plastic recycling efforts. The company believes this undermines local "zero waste" efforts, concluding that "continuing to remove materials of value from the curbside mix jeopardizes the entire residential recycling model."

While the opposition messaging has thus far garnered more attention, Cuomo's proposal does have its supporters — the Container Recycling Institute, New York League of Conservation Voters, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the New York Public Interest Research Group are among multiple organizations that have come out in favor. In one point of agreement, they too would like to see more glass containers included.

With lawmakers in neighboring Connecticut considering a similar bottle bill expansion, the battle in New York will test not just the merits of Cuomo’s appeal to “protect the environment for future generations,” but also the strength of pro-bottle bill arguments in a tightening recycling market. New York's state budget legislation is due for approval by March 31.

LI Environmentalists Say EPA Acting Too Slowly On PFAS Regulation

LI Environmentalists Say EPA Acting Too Slowly On PFAS Regulation

SOURCE:
http://www.wshu.org/post/li-environmentalists-say-epa-acting-too-slowly-pfas-regulation#stream/0

By JILL RYAN • FEB 15, 2019

The EPA plans to propose a drinking water standard by the end of the year to address harmful chemicals found in drinking water across the country. But environmentalists are skeptical.

Chemicals known as PFAS have been used to extinguish fires since the 1940s. But over time PFAS have seeped into the drinking water of nearby communities.  

Susan Bodine, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Eenforcement and Compliance Assurance, said PFAS is a known carcinogen, but the EPA needs more time to study its effects.

Executive Director Adrienne Esposito of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment said it’s too long of a process to establish a drinking water standard.

“We are very disturbed by the continued delay. This is a highly toxic chemical and unfortunately the EPA is moving at a pre-global warming glacial speed to regulate it.”

Esposito said the EPA may need a couple more years before regulations can be made.

New York moves to regulate a ‘likely human carcinogen’ in drinking water

New York moves to regulate a ‘likely human carcinogen’ in drinking water

SOURCE: pbs.org

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-york-moves-to-regulate-a-likely-human-carcinogen-in-drinking-water

New York state is proposing the country’s first firm limit on a chemical found in drinking water in heavy concentrations in some Long Island, New York communities. 1,4-dioxane has been labeled a “likely human carcinogen” by the EPA, but is not currently regulated in drinking water at the federal level. Hari Sreenivasan reports in this follow-up to our 2017 story.

Read the Full Transcript

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it would start the process of setting drinking water standards for two widely found chemicals by the end of this year. PFOA and PFOS were used to make things like non-stick cookware and water repellent materials. They have since been linked with cancer, kidney disease, and weakened childhood immunity. But the federal government regulating new chemicals in drinking water is uncommon. It's a task often left to states, if it happens at all. In tonight's signature segment we are updating a report on drinking water safety and New York state's push to regulate a chemical found in drinking water around Long Island. It's a story about how one region is trying to clean up its water, and how costly it can be.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

So this is one of the more contaminated well sites?

·         Rich Humann:

Yea.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Engineer Rich Humann is showing me a water treatment plant in suburban Bethpage on Long Island, New York.

These cylinders are like giant versions of the water filter in your fridge. Installed in 1990, they use carbon to clean water polluted by decades-old industrial activity.

But they aren't effective at removing a new contaminant that has been detected in Long Island's water.

So what are these going to do?

·         Rich Humann:

So this is the advanced oxidation system that the Bethpage Water District had installed primarily to deal with 1,4-dioxane.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

1,4-dioxane is a chemical found in degreasers, paint-strippers, solvents, and in some consumer products like detergents and soaps.

It's classified as a quote "likely human carcinogen" by the Environmental Protection Agency, associated with nasal cavity, liver and gall bladder tumors in animal studies.

Is there a gap between what's tested and what's in the water?

·         Adrienne Esposito:

The answer is yes. We have more emerging chemicals. We have to mandate that those chemicals are tested for.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Adrienne Esposito runs the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which is based on Long Island. It has been raising alarms about the lack of regulation around 1,4-dioxane and other unregulated contaminants in drinking water.

·         Adrienne Esposito:

Each year we know a little bit more, we test a little bit more, and we find a little bit more and that's a little bit scary.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Between 2013 and 2015, the EPA required every large water provider in the US to test for 1,4-dioxane. That's the first step in whether or not a contaminant will be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Results showed that Long Island was a hot spot.

More than 70 percent of water authorities here had levels of 1,4-dioxane above .35 parts per billion. That's the level that the EPA calculates poses a lifetime, one-in-a-million increased chance of developing cancer.

That may not sound like that high a risk level, but many sites here on Long Island had levels way above the ones associated with that long-term cancer risk. In fact, officials here in Hicksville had to shut down this well in 2015 because it was found to have levels of 1,4-dioxane that were the highest in the country, amounts that were nearly a 100 times higher than that one-in-a-million risk level.

But 1,4-dioxane's presence in drinking water doesn't mean it'll necessarily be regulated at the federal level. the EPA says it will not make any final determination until at least 2021.

·         Stan Carey:

The federal government didn't take a lead role in wanting to regulate it. So the state decided that due to the high occurrence on Long Island that we were going to take a closer look.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Stan Carey is the superintendent of the Massapequa Water District on Long Island. In 2017, he was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to be on the New York State Drinking Water Quality Council. The council was charged with coming up with a level under which 1,4-dioxane and two other unregulated chemicals should remain.

·         Stan Carey:

Do you have any numbers if that standard was set lower?

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

In December 2018, the council recommended that the maximum allowable level of 1,4-dioxane in drinking water should be one part per billion. In other words, about three times the level associated with that one-in-a-million cancer risk.

Carey says he supports the recommendation of the council, but he actually would have allowed for more 1,4 dioxane to be in the water. He says other chemicals aren't regulated so stringently.

·         Stan Carey:

I don't want to, you know, jeopardize public health. I wasn't trying to do that. But other contaminants that are regulated, they are not regulated at the one-in-a-million cancer risk level. Vinyl chloride, TCE, Trichloroethylene, they're regulated in the range closer to one-in-ten-thousand. So putting it in perspective, that's what I was using as a comparison.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Carey also says that even though the limit might be one part per billion, the state ordinarily makes water suppliers take action before a chemical reaches the maximum level. Meaning in practice, water utilities will be forced to meet an even lower limit. And then there's the potential cost for water providers and ratepayers.

·         Stanley Carey:

You have to take in the cost of the treatment and there has to be a balance of actually what's feasible to implement.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Esposito says the proposed new limit, which would be the first firm regulation on 1,4-dioxane in the country, will protect New Yorkers.

·         Adrienne Esposito:

Right now there is no standard. So for the public to gain that level of protection, that's a significant advancement of public health protection.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Esposito acknowledges the challenge is how water providers will pay to meet this new state standard.

·         Adrienne Esposito:

Many of the water supplies do do due diligence. I think they actually want to know what's in the drinking water. The problem is when they find out something's there, the cost of the treatment.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

New York state allocated $2.5 billion towards water infrastructure in 2017. And last October, the state announced $200 million of that money would fund treatment for emerging contaminants, including 1,4-dioxane.

At Bethpage's plant six, the level of 1,4-dioxane tested eight times higher than New York's proposed threshold.

·         Rich Humann:

So two million gallons a day water can be treated through this set of reactors.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

The water district is piloting this advanced oxidation process, or AOP, and splitting the nearly $3 million cost with the state. The system, which is still being tested, is one of the only known ways to remove 1,4-dioxane from water

·         Rich Humann:

One of the more significant challenges in dealing with 1,4-dioxane is it's highly soluble which makes it difficult to come out of water through some traditional treatment techniques.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Humann showed us how it works. Hydrogen peroxide is added to the untreated water. The water is then run past UV lamps. The process breaks down and removes the 1,4-dioxane from the water.

·         Rich Humann:

You can do everything from a technical perspective and you can understand the theory and how the treatment supposed to work. But you know there's always the practicality of the actual operation of the system.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

In fact there are unknowns about how this technology even works. At the Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University, researchers are studying the system using a miniature version, and setting up AOP pilot projects at four water utilities on long island. Arjun Venkatesan is the Associate Director for Drinking Water Initiatives at the center.

·         Arjun Venkatesan:

This is a simulated groundwater. We add known amounts of contaminants, in this case it's 1,4-dioxane, and the water is pumped through the reactor. This is set up in such a way that we can understand how quickly the dioxane degrades over time.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

The Center's researchers are also looking at chemical byproducts created when UV light reacts with the contaminated water.

·         Arjun Venkatesan:

We want to make sure the advanced oxidation process system does not generate some toxic chemicals that we don't understand yet.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Long Island's industrial past plays a big role in its drinking water issues. Bethpage was home to a 600 acre complex where the US Navy and defense contractor Grumman, now Northrop Grumman, developed and built aerospace equipment from the mid-1930s to the 1990s. Industrial waste from the site has sunk down to the aquifer, which is the sole source of drinking water for nearly 3 million people on long island.

Engineer Rich Humann says the underground plume, as it's known, is a reality that water providers like Bethpage have to deal with.

·         Rich Humann:

We're never going to get away at least I'm going to say in my lifetime from the fact that we've got the old Navy/Grumman property

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Right.

·         Rich Humann:

We've got one of the most significant groundwater contamination plumes in the entire country that this water district has been impacted like no other. And dealing with the burden that frankly no water supplier should have to deal with, but they have no choice.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Elsewhere on Long Island, some water providers are suing the makers of 1,4-dioxane. Since 2017, at least ten of them have filed lawsuits against Dow Chemical, and two other chemical manufacturers.

In a statement to Newshour Weekend, Dow said, in part, that, "these lawsuits are without merit."

The chemical industry more broadly downplays the risks from 1,4-dioxane. In a statement, the American Chemistry Council, an industry group, said, in part, it's "…troubled by [New York's]… recommendation for 1,4 dioxane…" Claiming that it's "…neither scientifically justified nor economically feasible." And points out that in Canada, the limit is 50 parts per billion, 50 times New York's proposed standard.

Meanwhile, in Bethpage, officials tell us it's not just the contaminants they know about, like 1,4-dioxane, that worry them.

·         Hari Sreenivasan:

Considering all of the other chemicals out there that have happened in the last 30 or 40 years. When science starts to figure out how to detect those in the water. Does that mean we're going to have to build new tools like this just to be able to get that out of our drinking water?

·         Rich Humann:

That's… If 1,4-dioxane as an indicator, then that's, that's likely.

Letters: More action, info on 1,4-dioxane needed

Letters: More action, info on 1,4-dioxane needed

Reader letters to Newsday for Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019.

SOURCE:
https://www.newsday.com/opinion/letters/newsday-reader-letters-1.27635041

Bethpage Water District superintendent Mike Boufis describes the water district's pilot water treatment system that incorporates a new technology to remove 1,4-dioxane, an emerging contaminant that has been found in dozens of drinking water wells across Long Island. Photo Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin

By Newsday Readers

The most critical obligation of water suppliers across Long Island is to provide clean, safe drinking water to Long Island’s nearly 3 million residents. That is why it is so disturbing to learn that they want to delay filtering for 1,4-dioxane for three years [“$840M to clean LI’s water,” News, Feb. 18]. Yes, the treatment technology is new and expensive, but so are the costs of treating liver and kidney damage, and cancer, which are all health impacts associated with consuming this chemical.

The Citizens Campaign for the Environment and other environmental organizations have successfully lobbied in Albany for state grants to water suppliers to meet this new filtration need. We continue to work for more money for this critical purpose. Rather than ask for a delay, it would be highly preferable for water suppliers to assure the public they will begin filtering drinking water wells that have the highest levels of 1,4-dioxane and will work hard to meet the overwhelming need of providing clean water.

Adrienne Esposito, Farmingdale

Editor’s note: The writer is executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, an advocacy organization.

It seems to me that one of the top priorities in dealing with the toxin 1,4-dioxane — apart from removing it from Long Island water — should be for consumers to stop using products with the chemical. Yet there is no such list with Newsday’s front-page story even though we have known about this contaminant for several years. Why? Are we afraid to hurt businesses? Additionally, we need a list of products that don’t have 1,4-dioxane in them — immediately.

It’s shocking that consumers are still in the dark on the good and the bad products. It’s shameful on your part as our main source of information.

Jane Thomas,

Port Washington

Improved public transportation key to a future, greener Long Island: Kaiman

Improved public transportation key to a future, greener Long Island: Kaiman

SOURCE: The Island Now
https://theislandnow.com/news-98/improved-public-transportation-key-to-a-future-greener-long-island-kaiman/

By

 Jed Hendrixson

 -

February 19, 2019

The crowded hearing room at the Nassau County Legislature. (Photo by Jed Hendrixson)

Speakers and state senators alike talked about the importance of an efficient and comprehensive public transportation system for the future of Long Island at a crowded climate change hearing Friday in Mineola.

Suffolk County Deputy Executive and former North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman said that modernizing public transportation is crucial to cutting down Long Island’s greenhouse gas emissions generated by motorists.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment Executive Director Adrienne Esposito said the MTA, the parent of the Long Island Rail Road, “has a transit monopoly on the island, but has not been able to make it” a viable alternative for many commuters.

In 2014, New York was the ninth highest producer of carbon dioxide emissions nationally at 170 million metric tons, according to the EPA. A 2016 figure from the department attributed 28 percent of emissions to transportation.

Long Island’s bus and train systems are out of date and not marketed as a realistic choice of transportation for commuters who prefer their cars, according to Esposito.

Kaiman called for assistance from the state to incentivize the use of public transportation. The inadequate system that now exists, he said, results in hundreds of thousands of residents driving their own vehicles all over the island and increased greenhouse gas emissions.

Turning to the broader issue of climate change, Kaiman said the island has been subject to plenty of extreme weather events as a result of climate change like Superstorm Sandy, wildfires in the Pine Barrens and the hottest summers on record in recent years.

Kaiman also previously served as an adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the devastation that Superstorm Sandy delivered to Long Island’s shores.

“We no longer have the luxury of debating whether or not climate change is happening,” Kaiman said. 

From left: state Senator John Brooks, state Assemblyman Steve Englebright, state Senator Todd Kaminsky and state Senator Kevin Thomas. (Photo by Jed Hendrixson)

The three hearings, the first Feb. 12 in Albany and the second Feb. 14 in New York City, are a part of an effort to gauge public opinion on a proposed state bill dubbed the “Climate and Community Protection Act,” which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of renewable energy resources in the state.

“With inaction in Washington, it is critical for us to take the bold steps necessary to protect our planet,” state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), chairman of the Environmental Conservation Committee, said. “These hearings are a critical step to determining how New York can lead in the fight against climate change.”

The legislation would take measures to make the state carbon-neutral by 2050, including emissions from cars, public transportation, homes and office building heating.

A conference room on the second floor of the Nassau County Legislature was packed with scientists, local officials and advocates for renewable energy resources. Many who spoke commended the panel of senators and assembly representatives that hosted the hearing for taking climate change seriously.

“Thank you for hosting a hearing on climate change on Long Island,” Esposito said to rousing applause from the room.

The hearings and the proposed bill gives residents hope and faith for a better tomorrow in working collaboratively to face the greatest challenge of our generation, Esposito said. 

The bill has been long supported by the state’s Democratic majority Assembly, but did not advance further in a Republican-controlled state senate. In November, Democrats seized control of both houses and since then the bill has gained traction.

The bill is not the only option, however.

In Cuomo’s State of the State address last month, he pledged to require 100 percent of the state’s electric generated from public utilities to come from renewable energy resources by 2040.

Cuomo’s pledge follows the state Public Service Commission’s Clean Energy Standard plan, which requires 50 percent of New York’s electricity to be produced from renewable energy sources like wind and solar by 2030 and will implement an aggressive phase-in schedule over the next several years, according to the governor’s website.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gas emissions from the production of electricity accounted for 28 percent of total emissions in 2016 nationally.

Esposito said she believes that aspects of both plans can be merged.

A hearing attendee, holding a sign calling for a more aggressive climate change proposal: 100 percent renewable energy resources by 2030. (Photo by Jed Hendrixson)

Setting a date for total emissions to eventually reach zero is prudent and important, according to Esposito. Other issues, she added, include educating the public on the benefits of action and dispelling myths regarding renewable energy resources, as well as devising an effective plan for public transportation on the island.

Climate change is very real and will make transitioning to renewable energy difficult, according to Paul Shepson, dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University.

“It is a real threat to our society, our infrastructure and to the natural world and addressing this problem is one of the great challenges of the 21st century,” Shepson said. 

Asked by Kaminsky how serious an issue climate change is on a scale of one to 10, Shepson replied 10 and called it an “insidious, slow” problem. Moving toward renewable energy will be a decades-long, future investment, but will create new “green” jobs, he said.

“It will require investment, political will, hard work, determination and innovation,” Shepson said.

LI Residents Could Get Stuck With Big Bills To Pay For Drinking Water Cleanup

LI Residents Could Get Stuck With Big Bills To Pay For Drinking Water Cleanup

SOURCE: CBSNewYork:

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/02/18/long-island-drinking-water-cleanup/

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – $840 million.

That’s how much it could cost to clean up contaminated drinking wells on Long Island and water providers there 

 are warning residents – their water bills could double because of it.

“Not good. Not good at all. For what? Contaminated water?” Bethpage homeowner Zareh Andreas said.

New York State has ordered the chemical 1,4 Dioxane to be removed from drinking water. The compound is believed to be a likely human carcinogen associated with liver and kidney damage.

1,4 Dioxane has been detected in 70 percent of Long Island wells and could cost over $800 million to clean out.

Water providers are suing. Chemical manufacturers want more help from the government and a delay on enforcement standards.

“We estimate 185 wells in Nassau and Suffolk counties will have to worry about removing this contaminant,” Dennis Kelleher of H2M Engineers said.

MORE: Acting Head Of EPA Pressured To Look Into Threats Against Long Island Drinking Water

Water rates, without additional state help, could double in some water districts where multiple wells are contaminated.

“Why should I have to pay for it? It wasn’t me, whoever did it is responsible,” Kevin Kelly of Bethpage said.

“Absolutely I want it clean, we have children, we have lived here our whole lives,” Jennifer Kelly added.

The man-made chemical found in industrial solvents – like detergents and shampoos – is reportedly endangering Long Island’s fragile aquifer.

Manufacturers of 1,4 Dioxane should be held responsible and we agree they should pay, but where we draw the line is there should be no delay in cleaning up people’s drinking water,” Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaigning for the Environment argued.

The treatment is a high-tech process. Bethpage has a pilot system with a multi-million dollar reactor using ultra violet lamps.

It’s called advanced oxidation. What this uses is UV light and hydrogen peroxide,” Bethpage water district superintendent Michael Boufis explained.

If the state, the federal government, and manufacturers don’t help with the cost, experts predict taxes will go up and water rates will soar.

Water providers add they need three to five years to plan, design, and construct the treatment systems.

SCWA: Lengthen statute of limitations so polluters can pay for cleanup

Source: Newsday

SCWA: Lengthen statute of limitations so polluters can pay for cleanup

Exposure to PFOS and PFOA is tied to a variety of health problems, from cancer to elevated cholesterol, the EPA says. It calls 1,4 dioxane a likely human carcinogen.

BY JOAN GRALLA

Posted: February 15, 2019
Originally Published: February 14, 2019

Companies that polluted New York State’s drinking water with emerging contaminants could escape liability for huge clean-up costs unless the statute of limitations is lengthened, Suffolk County Water Authority’s general counsel said on Thursday.

And for capital projects, water districts should be freed from the 2 percent cap on property taxes, said Tim Hopkins, the authority’s general counsel, at the Long Island Drinking Water Quality Forum it hosted in Hauppauge.

Hopkins also noted that state grants from the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act should take into account the number of people a water supplier serves, so that each customer of a large agency does not receive far less than someone who gets their drinking water from a much smaller entity.

“We’re going to be shoveling against a tide,” said Paul Granger, the superintendent of the Port Washington Water District and a member of the advisory New York State Drinking Water Quality Council, describing the costs and burdens of tackling the three pollutants — perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 1,4 dioxane.

The forum, a Long Island Water Conference event, was held the same day the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that by the end of 2019 it will "propose a regulatory determination" for PFOS and PFOA, the next step in setting limits under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA also could define them as hazardous substances, and it will issue interim groundwater cleanup recommendations.

The state Department of Health says it expects to issue recommendations in the coming months, triggering the public comment process.

Exposure to PFOS and PFOA is tied to a variety of health problems, from cancer to elevated cholesterol, the EPA says. It calls 1,4 dioxane a likely human carcinogen.

Most people, the EPA says, have been exposed to PFOS and PFOA because they were so common in consumer products, from detergent to cosmetics to pizza boxes. However, Long Islanders also can be exposed from well water drawn near industrial sites or where firefighting foam was used, at Gabreski Air National Guard Base, for example.

Both PFOA and PFOS were found in more than 150 private wells in Wainscott, near the East Hampton Airport. The third contaminant, 1,4 dioxane, has been found in 165 wells, experts said.

State Sen. James Gaughran (D-Northport) said there was bipartisan support for the statute of limitation bill that he helped devise while chairing the Suffolk County Water Authority.

The current deadline kicks in when the injury is found — or should have been uncovered, Hopkins said.

Instead, it should not start until a contaminant has been discovered at a level high enough to prompt notification, or at specified maximum levels, according to his presentation.

Further, the deadline should not start until “the last wrongful act of a person” who helped cause the pollution or the date when it last was detected in the raw water of a well or plant intake above specified levels, the presentation said.

The “clear majority” of the 89 public water entities that will need to treat 1,4 dioxane are located on Long Island, Granger said in his presentation, citing the state Department of Health.

That department now is weighing maximum contaminant levels: 10 parts per trillion for PFOA, 10 parts per trillion for PFOS, and one part per billion for 1,4 dioxane, he said.

The statewide price tag for dealing with PFOS, PFOA and 1,4 dioxane could exceed $1.5 billion for capital, and $75 million for annual operating costs, Granger said.

Critics have said both the state and the EPA have taken too long to regulate these hazards. Now, the federal government might be the laggard.

“The solution is simply setting a drinking water standard; New York State is well on its way. The EPA should be on its way,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, an advocacy group, told reporters after the EPA’s news conference in New York City.

With AP and Charles Eckert

Southampton Town adopts ban on plastic straws, stirrers and foam packaging

Source: Riverhead Local

Southampton Town adopts ban on plastic straws, stirrers and foam packaging

BY DENISE CIVILETTI

Posted: February 15, 2019
Originally Published: February 13, 2019

Food establishments in Southampton Town will soon be prohibited from offering customers plastic straws, stirrers and Styrofoam containers.

The Southampton Town Board yesterday unanimously adopted a code amendment to ban the products. The new law will take effect on May 8.

The new law, first proposed by Councilwoman Julie Lofstad, was recommended by the town’s sustainability committee which estimates that residents and visitors in the township discard nearly 20 million plastic straws and 8 million polystyrene cups per year — much of which washes up along the town’s beaches, according to town officials.

“This may be a small step but it’s a very important step,” Councilwoman Lofstad said in a press release. “Our environment is everything to us and anything we can do that’s not going to have harmful impacts on our businesses and residents is a no-brainer for me.”

The sustainability committee polled 85 food establishments and found 82 supported the ban, some had already stopped offering polystyrene “to-go” containers.

Under the law, restaurants will be permitted to keep a small number of plastic straws on hand for those with physical disabilities who require plastic straws.

Southampton Town banned single-use carryout bags in the town as of April 2015.

Neither Riverhead nor Southold town have adopted measures to restrict the distribution of single-use plastic and polystyrene items and plastic carryout bags. North Fork residents recently launched a public education and advocacy initiative to seek the adoption of such measures in Riverhead and Southold.

Suffolk County in 2016 adopted a law imposing a 5-cent fee on consumers who use single-use carryout bags. The measure, which took effect Jan. 1, 2018, greatly reduced their use in the county, according to the environmental advocacy group Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which conducted before and after surveys at grocery stores across Suffolk.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month announced his intention to seek legislation imposting a statewide ban on single-use plastic carryout bags.

Bag-ban advocates make their case at Westport beach

Source: CT Post

Bag-ban advocates make their case at Westport beach

BY JARRET LIOTTA

Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 9, 2019

State Sen. Will Haskel, State Rep. Tony Hwang and State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg tout a bill that would ban single-use plastic bags in CT Saturday, February 9, 2019, while Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe and

WESTPORT — Hoping to demonstrate a united front, a group of state legislators, local officials and environmental activists held a beach news conference Saturday afternoon focused on banning single-use plastic bags in Connecticut.

Westport was the first municipality in the state to do so, 10 years ago, and several involved with that fight, including state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, spoke Saturday of its importance.

“People said it couldn’t be done, (but) the state can do it, too,” Steinberg said, noting the first bill aiming to do so was introduced eight years ago in Hartford.

Steinberg and state Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, along with state Rep. Kim Rose, D-Milford, have each introduced bills into the Legislature that, respectively, prohibit use and distribution of single-use plastic bags, promote the use of reusable bags, and establish fees on paper bags.

“Paper bags also have an adverse impact,” said Louis Burch, program director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, noting the goal was to encourage people to bring their own reusable bags.

“It’s time now for our state government to follow Westport’s lead,” Haskell said, addressing around 60 people who endured icy winds to take part in the rally adjacent to the historic cannons at Compo Beach.

He said 18 billion pounds of plastic waste ends up in the world’s oceans every year, with only 5 percent ultimately recycled. “It’s time to reverse that trend,” he said.

“The next generation of voters has spoken loudly and clearly,” Haskell said.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am that Westport is actually the home of the plastic bag ordinance,” First Selectman Jim Marpe, a Republican, said.

“This is not a Republican or Democratic issue,” he said. “It’s a bipartisan issue.”

Liz Milwe, a District 1 member of Westport’s Representative Town Meeting, and who took part in the original plastic bag ban, said Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, and Weston have all recently passed local bans similar to Westport’s.

“We hope the whole state of Connecticut will join us,” she said.

Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association, which represents retail organizations, said his group was in agreement with the ban.

“Connecticut’s growing retail community fully supports this effort,” he said. “We want to be part of the solution.”

“I do believe it is important to bring all the shareholders into this dialogue,” noted State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, noting the manufacturing of the single-use bags was poor business.

“I’m fully supportive of (a statewide ban) ... for the environment, but for good business as well,” he said.

“We use these things for a minute or a second, and then they go in the seas, and they can be there for centuries,” state Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said. “That should tell us everything we need to know.”

But while she expressed her support for a ban, she said that, given the extreme state of the planet, it wasn’t enough.

“We have a major problem with lots of single-use plastic bottles,” she said, noting the market for plastic waste was diminishing.

“We’re going to have to learn to, A: limit it, and B: treat it in a more methodical way than we do,” Lavielle said.

“I think this is a good first step, but it’s not enough,” she said.

Bipartisan lawmakers stand behind state plastic bag ban

Source: News 12 Connecticut

Bipartisan lawmakers stand behind state plastic bag ban

Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 9, 2019

WESTPORT - Several elected officials came together across party lines Saturday at Compo Beach to discuss the importance of a statewide single-use plastic bag ban and to draw attention to the issue.

Later this month, the Westport will be celebrating 10 years without single-use plastic bags.

"It's time now for our state government to follow Westport's lead,” says state Sen. Will Haskell. “Westport has shown over the last 10 years that we can change consumer behavior."

Dozens of supporters were also at Compo Beach – many left with brand new reusable bags that officials are encouraging everyone to use.

"It's not enough to simply ban plastic bags, paper bags also have adverse environmental impacts and they take up unnecessary space in our waste stream," says Louis Burch, of the Citizen's Campaign.

In early January, Big Y, which has 30 stores across the state, announced they would phase out plastic bags by 2020.

Management says their ban will ensure that 100 million bags, that are used annually, will not impact the environment.

Greenwich, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston and most recently New Canaan each have bans in place. Lawmakers say in order to preserve the Long Island Sound and the greater environment, a statewide ban is vital.

Watch the video.

Brookhaven's new recycling rules cause homeowner confusion

Source: News 12 Long Island

Brookhaven's new recycling rules cause homeowner confusion

Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 8, 2019

BROOKHAVEN - Residents in Brookhaven are voicing frustration with the town's new set of recycling rules.

At the beginning of the year, the town switched from single-stream recycling to dual stream. The new rule means that homeowners now have to separate plastics and metals from paper and cardboard.

Items like glass, greasy pizza boxes and plastic bags are not being accepted at all.

Some say the new system is confusing and that crews don't always pick up their recyclables.

"The town wasn't clear about what should go into containers and what should not," said Don Drosselmeier, of Centereach. "But I went on the website and found out and this week, the truck came and didn't pick up the plastics."

Town Recycling Commissioner Christopher Andrade says that restrictions are being felt nationwide ever since China decided it would no longer import most American waste.

"It's frustrating, it's inconvenient right now, but I think after a while people get on board," Andrade says.

Items in the Centereach neighborhood may not have been taken because some of the plastic was of the wrong grade.

Guidelines also vary depending on the town, but garbage trucks in Brookhaven will only accept plastic that's labeled No. 1 or No. 2. Brookhaven says it has put out notices, including mailers, explaining to residents what should be recycled and what shouldn't.

Environmentalists like Adrienne Esposito says the town isn't doing enough.

"By leaving the recyclables there and not letting the person know what they did wrong, you're causing frustration, you're causing anger," Esposito says.

Residents in Huntington have made similar complaints to News 12.

Officials say they have also worked hard to get the word out about dual-stream recycling.

Watch the video.

Oakdale gets $26M grant to switch to sewage system

Source: News 12 Long Island

Oakdale gets $26M grant to switch to sewage system

Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 8, 2019

OAKDALE - Hundreds of homes in Oakdale are being hooked up to a sewage system free of charge.

Residents in the area say cesspools in their houses have been a big problem.

Dave Hescheles says his cesspool leaks into the canal behind his house so he can't use the water for fishing, collecting clams or swimming.
"Something needs to be done," he says.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking to solve that problem and clean up the water along the South Shore by giving Oakdale $26 million to switch roughly 400 homes from cesspools to sewers.

"We have to provide sanitary systems if we're gonna keep our water safe," Cuomo says.

Part of the state grant would extend pipes from the sewage treatment plant in West Babylon to homes in Oakdale.

Environmentalists say that once that happens, the water in the Great South Bay will be much cleaner.

Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, says pollution from septic tanks is harmful to aquatic life, beaches and the public.

"It doesn't solve the whole problem, but it's one giant step at a time," Esposito says.

Homeowners will eventually have to pay an annual fee to use the sewer system, but some think that may be cheaper than having their cesspools emptied all the time.

"You pay for it one way or another," said Chris Hines of Oakdale.

Before the switch can happen, Oakdale residents must vote to approve the plan.

Watch the video.

Activists 'thrilled' with Cuomo's environmental initiatives

Source: News 12 Long Island

Activists 'thrilled' with Cuomo's environmental initiatives

Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 8, 2019

WOODBURY - Gov. Andrew Cuomo was on Long Island Friday to explain some new environmental initiatives.

Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizen's Campaign for the Environment, says the group was "thrilled" with what they heard from the governor.

Cuomo announced a $40 million sewer infrastructure in Smithtown and a $26 million sewer infrastructure in Oakdale. He also called for funding to improve Long Island parks, banning plastic bags and more money for shellfish restoration.

"All of that is good news for us, as well as the new Green Deal, which means more offshore renewable energy to replace our aging infrastructure," Esposito said.

The governor also called for action to get the Bethpage plume under control. Cuomo says he is not waiting for the Grumman facility or the Navy to clean it up.

Esposito says this "aggressive" action by Cuomo is important to protect the public's drinking water supply. 

Watch the video.

Needs outweigh cash in state's infrastructure fund

Source: Albany Times Union

Needs outweigh cash in state's infrastructure fund

BY BRIAN NEARING

Posted: February 11, 2019
Originally Published: February 7, 2019

ALBANY — While a multi-billion-dollar state program to fix aging drinking water and sewer pipes is working, the state should double the money it currently devotes to dealing with widespread problems, according to a study issued Thursday by a environmental lobbying group.

While praising the state's three-year-old, $2.5 billion program to fix such infrastructure, Environmental Advocates of New York said another $2.5 billion ought to be added. 

While state funding is substantial, Hayes said, it is dwarfed by the potential price tag of $80 billion or more to fix aging municipal water and sewer systems that serve millions of New Yorkers.

Out of the 22,000 miles of sewer pipes statewide, nearly a third are beyond their projected 60-year lifespans, according to the report. A quarter of more than 600 sewage treatment plants are beyond their projected useful life of 30 years.

Hayes said local governments facing upgrade projects have filed 884 applications seeking $1.4 billion since 2015. The state, however, was able to award about $500 million for 316 projects.

"New York is currently far from the level of annual funding needed to fix our pipes," according to the report. "With an estimated need for state investment of $80 billion over 20 years, the state would need to invest $4 billion each year to tackle our water infrastructure crisis."

Also Thursday, a nationwide coalition of environmental groups from states around the Great Lakes urged Congress to increase the amount of federal aid available to states to pay for such projects.

It is projected to cost nearly $180 billion over the next two decades to fix water and sewer systems in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, according to the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.

In New York, the group includes the Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the National Audubon Society.

Federal funding for water infrastructure has dropped significantly since the 1970s, when federal aid covered nearly two-thirds of spending on local water and sewer improvement projects. After years of federal budget cuts, that had dropped to about 9 percent by 2014.

January Newsletter

Highlights

Help CCE build on our success, and support our campaigns to protect public health and the environment in NY and CT. Make a contribution today.  

Highlights

Governor Cuomo Releases Pro-Environment Budget

• Governor Cuomo's 2019-2020 Executive Budget proposal included many of our top legislative and funding priorities for the year: 

• $2.5 billion in clean water infrastructure funding.

• Increasing NY's renewable energy goal to 70% by 2030, and carbon-free electricity by 2040.•Increasing NY's offshore wind goal to 9,000 megawatts by 2035.

• Banning plastic bags and expanding the state's bottle deposit to additional beverage containers.•$300 million for the NYS Environmental Protection Fund.

• Banning offshore drilling in NY's waters.

CCE's Adrienne Esposito testified at the Legislature's budget hearing to ensure that these and other priorities are strengthened and make it into the final state budget. We will continue pushing these and other important policies, including banning 1,4-dioxane from consumer products, protecting menhaden (a fish species crucial to whale survival), fighting climate change, and more throughout the 2019 legislative session.

Suffolk County Residents Vote Yes for Sewers!

In January, the Carlls River and Forge River sewering projects were approved with 73% of the vote! In the largest sewer expansion on Long Island since the1970's, 6,500 homes in Mastic and Babylon will be connected to sewers, greatly reducing nitrogen entering our local waterways. A huge thank you to all the Suffolk residents who came out and voted for clean water. We're looking forward to seeing improved water quality, healthier fisheries, and less harmful algal blooms thanks to these much-needed sewering projects.

Working with CT's New Governor to Advance CCE Priorities

As a member of the environmental policy subcommittee, we briefed Governor Lamont and his transition team on key issues in CT, including eliminating single-use plastics, expanding food waste composting, and improving the state's recycling system. We look forward to advancing these and other key priorities in CT this year!  

Happenings

Product Testing for 1,4-Dioxane: Part II

1,4-Dioxane is hidden carcinogen lurking in an estimated 46% of personal care products, but it is not listed on their labels. Last year, we had 30 baby products, detergents, shampoos and body washes tested for the contaminant. Unfortunately, 23 out of the 30 products contained 1,4-dioxane. After releasing a report on these results, we received calls from the public asking us to test additional items, including generic and discount brands. We just sent an additional 50 products to a certified lab to be tested for 1,4-dioxane. The results will be coming this spring along with a shopper's guide of all 80 tested in total, so stay tuned!

Central NY: Stay Warm This Winter with Geothermal!

We are an active member of the HeatSmart CNY campaign, which has been working to help CNY residents and businesses install modern, clean geothermal systems. HeatSmart CNY is a grassroots community initiative to support residents and businesses in exploring ways to improve the efficiency of their buildings, including air source, ground source, and hot water heat pump technologies. To learn more about geothermal technologies, join us at upcoming HeatSmart events. If you own a home or business in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, or Oswego Counties, you can sign up for a free, no obligation energy assessment!

Fighting Ocean Acidification in NY Waters

New York waters are already showing signs of ocean acidification. This is the result of greenhouse gas emissions combined with polluted runoff from land. This acidity can negatively impact shellfish, finfish, and other marine organisms. The New York Ocean Acidification (OA) Task Force was established to ensure that the best available science is used to assess and respond to this emerging threat to New York's marine waters and fisheries. CCE attended the January task force meeting, and we will continue to monitor the task force and look forward to its plan on how to address ocean acidification in New York waters.

Reducing Plastic Pollution on the South Fork of Long Island

In January, the Town of East Hampton passed a ban on polystyrene foam containers (commonly called Styrofoam)! The Town is also considering banning the intentional release of balloons. Meanwhile, in Southampton, we testified at a public hearing last month to ban polystyrene and plastic straws. These crucial efforts will curb single-use plastics polluting our beaches, bays, and ocean on the South Fork.

Upcoming: Support a Healthy Environment and Healthy Economy at EPF Lobby Day!

A clean, healthy, and thriving environment is the backbone of economic development throughout New York. For the past 26 years, the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) has invested billions to protect and restore our precious environment in every region of the state. Governor Cuomo included a fully-funded EPF at $300 million in this year's Executive Budget. This funding will support capital projects that protect clean water, conserve open space, save family farms, revitalize waterfronts, protect our oceans and Great Lakes, and much more. Join us in Albany on February 12 for the annual EPF Lobby Day and help us fight for a fully-funded EPF in the final state budget! Register for the EPF Lobby Day.

Upcoming: Suffolk County: Change Out Your Septic System

Throughout 2018 we hosted a series of forums highlighting the importance of reducing nitrogen pollution from outdated septic systems and cesspools. We will be helping residents secure grants to change out their old systems for new, on-site, nitrogen-reducing treatment systems through Suffolk County's Reclaim Our Water program. We continued the series in 2019 with presentations in Holbrook and Port Jefferson Station. Our next forum will be at Connetquot Public Library on March 19 at 7:00pm. We hope to see you there!

Schumer threatens to hold up nomination of EPA administrator

Source: Newsday

Schumer threatens to hold up nomination of EPA administrator

The Senate minority leader wants the federal agency to set maximum contaminant levels for PFOS and PFOA, which the EPA has said can cause cancer.

BY ROBERT BRODSKY

Posted: February 5, 2019
Originally Published: February 4, 2019

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to set strict limits on a pair of toxic chemicals contaminating the water supply of millions of Americans, including tens of thousands in Suffolk County.

At a news conference in Farmingdale, Schumer threatened to hold up acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler's nomination to become the agency's permanent chief if he fails to set maximum contaminant levels for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which the agency has said can cause a host of health defects, including cancer. Schumer also plans to reintroduce legislation, first proposed in 2017, requiring the EPA to address the contamination.

"The EPA is trying to walk away from its responsibilities," said Schumer (D-N.Y.). "To take a carcinogenic chemical like PFOS and PFOA and say we are not going to pay attention to that when we have learned that it is in many more locations than you would think . . . makes no sense whatsoever."

New York State has moved ahead with regulating PFOA, PFOS and another chemical, 1,4-dioxane, over concern that the federal government wouldn’t act.

In December, a state panel of experts recommended a drinking water standard of 10 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, which would be the strictest in the nation. New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker is expected to adopt the measure some time this year, officials have said.

But the fixes would come with a hefty price tag. At the standard recommended by the state, an estimated 23 percent of public water wells in New York would need treatment — at a cost of $855 million in capital costs and $45 million a year for annual maintenance and operations.

The EPA has been studying whether to put maximum legal limits on the two chemicals, which have been detected in the groundwater near airports, industrial sites, military bases and firefighting training facilities. The contaminants are used in a number of industrial and commercial products, including firefighting foam, coatings that repel water, oil, stains and grease, food packaging, water-resistant clothing and stain-resistant carpeting.

But Schumer said Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, expressed resistance to aggressively regulating the chemicals during a meeting last week. 

"He doesn't deserve to be EPA commissioner if he is abdicating his responsibility," Schumer said of Wheeler, whose nomination to become permanent EPA chief comes up for a vote Tuesday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

An EPA spokesman said a plan is still to be determined.

“Despite what is being reported, [the] EPA has not finalized or publicly issued its PFAS [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances] management plan, and any information that speculates what is included in the plan is premature," said David Ross, EPA Office of Water assistant administrator. "The agency is committed to following the Safe Drinking Water Act process for evaluating new drinking water standards, which is just one of the many components of the draft plan that is currently undergoing interagency review.”

The detection of PFOS and PFOA in groundwater prompted the state to name Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach and a Suffolk County fire training center in Yaphank to the state Superfund list. Two public water supply wells near the Hampton Bays Fire Station were closed when the chemicals were detected, while PFOA and PFOS were found in more than 150 private wells in Wainscott, near the East Hampton Airport. 

"This is not a small problem," said James Tomarken, commissioner of the Suffolk County Health Department, which has tested more than 850 private wells in the past two years for the contaminants. "This is a widespread problem, and it needs to be addressed by the federal government."

The EPA has said exposure to the chemicals, which are present in the bloodstream of roughly 98 percent of Americans, can cause testicular and kidney cancer, developmental issues in fetuses or to breast-fed infants, and liver damage.

To regulate a contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA must find it has adverse health effects, occurs frequently at levels of public health concern and "there is a meaningful opportunity for health reduction risk for people served by public water systems."

"To turn a blind eye to this issue, which is literally affecting thousands of people, and probably thousands more, is really unconscionable," said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "We need an EPA that fights to protect our water, not to keep it polluted."

The two chemicals can be removed from wells using a carbon filtration system, which runs approximately $750,000, Esposito said.

"The good news is we know how to filter these chemicals out," Esposito said. "The bad news is it's going to cost a lot of money."

The EPA in 2016 established a voluntary health advisory for PFOS and PFOA, recommending a limit of 70 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water. A separate federal report released by the EPA last summer found the chemicals dangerous at much lower levels.

Last October, the state announced $200 million in grants to help communities remove "emerging" contaminants from drinking water, including $9.7 million for a water main in Wainscott and $1.65 million to the Bethpage Water District to treat 1,4-dioxane, which is found in paint strippers, solvents and household products.

With David M. Schwartz

Watch the video.

Schumer Calls On EPA To Set Federal Drinking Water Standards

Source: WCBS 880

Schumer Calls On EPA To Set Federal Drinking Water Standards

Posted: February 4, 2019
Originally Published: February 4, 2019

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Sen. Chuck Schumer on Monday called on the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure drinking water is at safe standards.

During a visit to Long Island, Schumer said it’s vital that the EPA set federal drinking water standards for the cancer-causing chemicals PFOS and PFOA that have been turning up in private wells and public water systems in Suffolk County.

“I met with the nominee for EPA and I asked him to put out these regulations and he said he's not sure he would do it. Today, we are announcing we're going to try to hold up his nomination unless he does this and, if that doesn't work, pass legislation requiring the federal government put out standards about PFOA’s and PFOS’s,” Schumer said.

He notes that the chemicals can be toxic and that there is no current standard for them. They are often found in laundry detergent and firefighting foam.

The chemicals have been plaguing Long Island was months and lawmakers have addressed concerns of toxic drinking water in the past.

Adrienne Esposito, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, also tells WCBS 880’s Sophia Hall that it can be quite simple to remove the chemicals from drinking water.

“The PFOA’s and PFOS’s can be filtered out with carbon filters,” she said.

Though, the trouble lies in the fact that many private wells and many public water systems do not yet have carbon filtration systems installed.

Listen to the story.

Complaints Arise Over Rapid Growth Of Downtown Farmingdale

Source: CBS New York

Complaints Arise Over Rapid Growth Of Downtown Farmingdale

Some Residents Are Concerned That The Village's Character Is Being Compromised By Aggressive Construction

Posted: February 4, 2019
Originally Published: January 16, 2019

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — One Long Island community is now considering a moratorium on new development.

The mayor of Farmingdale is proposing the move — and it’s getting support from some residents and business owners who say downtown is growing too fast, CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported Wednesday.

The turnaround seemed to arrive overnight — explosive growth in the village of Farmingdale. The demolishing and rebuilding has taken center stage near the Long Island Rail Road station.

“One hundred million dollars worth of development in our downtown area,” Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said.

The mayor, who is also a village pharmacist, has been hearing some complaints.

Farmingdale’s master plan in 2013 was to build 375 units of housing over 25 years, but in just six years it has already surpassed 250 units.

The village is buzzing as an up-and-coming destination, but some residents are pushing back, worried about a sudden change in the character of their hometown.

“It’s almost getting to … have you ever been to New Orleans? It’s like a Mardi Gras,” one person said.

“There’s lot of new shops, a lot of new little restaurants that we can all enjoy,” another said.

“Parking is extremely difficult on Main Street,” another added.

Bars, restaurants, shopping and millennials. Vision Long Island’s Eric Alexander said multiple Long Island villages are going through such a resurgence.

“But of course they want it at a pace that they can digest, that works with their quality of life,” Alexander said. “We always have to listen to the local community.”

Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which is located on Main Street, said challenges come with smart growth.

“Increased litter, a lot more congestion, a lot more truck traffic making deliveries and a lot of noise,” said Citizen Campaign’s Adrienne Esposito.

Entrepreneur Kelly Zhou said municipalities have to address that, but not at the expense of new businesses.

“We see a lot of young people coming into the area from the train station, from the new apartments upstairs,” Zhou said.

When asked if it’s time to hit the pause button, Mayor Ekstrand said, “That’s correct. Let’s look at everything that’s been done in the past six years. Let’s look and see if we have to tweak the master plan a little bit.”

A six-month moratorium on new downtown development will be voted on at the next village board meeting.

Following a contentious community hearing, a proposal to build another 54-unit apartment building and performing arts center on Main Street has been withdrawn.

Watch the video.