Earlier this month, an additional property in Poestenkill was found to have contaminated drinking water, bringing the total number of properties in town with water contamination to 14.

Through continued testing, Rensselaer County reported that levels of toxic Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) chemicals in the water had exceeded state-permitted levels, which is creating more uncertainty over the safety of the town’s drinking water.

“We have been pressing the state DEC, department of health, county health department and the town to answer some questions,” Poestenkill resident Philip LaRocque said.

For a year now, health and environmental officials from the state and Rensselaer County have been investigating various levels of chemicals detected in private wells at the Algonquin Middle School and several surrounding homes.

“The water testing is one issue. More testing needs to be done,” LaRocque said. “And the results are taking forever to get answers because we use one laboratory.”

What You Need To Know

• Various levels of toxic chemicals were detected at Algonquin Middle School and nearby private wells a year ago
• The state Department of Environmental Conservation recently detected PFOAs at Dynamic Systems Inc., a manufacturing facility
• Some believe this is unlikely the source of the contamination

The source of the contamination is still unknown, but people living in the area have their suspicions about possibilities, including Dynamic Solutions (DSI), a manufacturing facility less than four miles away from the school.

“I don’t know if DSI is cooperating with the state,” LaRocque said. “And that’s a problem.”

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recently detected PFOA at the site. In some cases, the level of contamination was more than double the state threshold for safe drinking water.

“DSI was on our radar screen because it is a potential superfund site for different types of contaminates,” DEC Chief of Staff Sean Mahar said.

But experts say this was not drinking water, and it’s unlikely the source.

“Because it is several miles removed from the school site, and based on what we’ve been able to determine about water flow, we don’t believe the two areas are connected,” Mahar said. “But that investigation is still very much underway.”

Critical of the response by state and local officials, LaRoque and several of neighbors in town have written to the DEC commissioner’s office.

“We keep hearing, ‘Well, we haven’t found the site yet.’ That’s because you’re not being aggressive to go to the industrial sites, which are probably the cause,” LaRocque said. “But I can’t be sure of that. I’m not a scientist. I’m a resident.”

Mahar says the agency has been transparent about its investigation, providing an updated website and hosting a community meeting last month.

“It’s a science-based, very methodical process that we have underway right now,” he said. “We’re bringing the best scientific minds in the state to the community to try and understand this issue.”

In the meantime, LaRoque and the group Concerned Citizens for Clean Drinking Water will continue their advocacy.

“We want to be treated as Hoosick Falls was treated — aggressively,” LaRoque said. “We should be treated the same with free testing for all impacted areas within a mile from the middle school and any other sites they find. DSI, for example. They’re not.”

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Originally Appeared Here