PFAS (per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) continues to be an on-going topic of concern in the Newburgh/New Windsor area since the announcement of contamination in 2016. Over the course of several hours at the Larkin Center at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center on Wednesday, October 25, community members discussed with local advocates, state offices and federal agencies the continued investigation of PFAS and environmental cleanup activities at Stewart Air National Guard Base.

PFAS or “forever chemicals”, are a family of chemicals that have been found to increase risk of illness at very low doses. They are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment. Back in May of 2016, it was discovered that PFAS from the Stewart Air National Guard Base had contaminated water sources in the City of Newburgh and Town of New Windsor, as well as surrounding streams and fish in the area. The main source of drinking water for the city, identified as Washington Lake, has not been used since the contamination discovery.

In attendance for the public poster board session Wednesday night were Stewart Air National Guard Base and Stewart Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) members, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the City of Newburgh Water Department and other agencies. For the first two of a four hour period that evening, the public browsed various poster boards that provided information by the agencies in attendance on the cleanup efforts, shared general information on PFAS/PFOS and shared plans ahead of the cleanup all while maintaining transparency. The members of the public had the opportunity to ask questions to any of the visiting agencies.

“It’s wonderful to see the outpouring of people that have been coming to see and talk with us,” said Colonel Francis Farrelly of Stewart Air National Guard Base. “When we found out that this [PFAS] was a public health concern, we immediately started working on ‘Alright, well then how do we respond to it and to address and make sure that we’re keeping our community safe,’ because it’s important to remember, we’re part of the community.”

While the cleanup efforts and contamination has been a difficult challenge, Farrelly noted that there are no PFAS/PFOS contaminants from the base going at all into the community water supplies. Farrelly, who is the Mission Support Group Commander for the 105th Airlift Wing out of Stewart, noted that many of his comrades and colleagues come from the local community. With the on-going efforts, Farrelly welcomes the opportunity to speak with any community members about the work that the base is doing and for the community to stay informed and educated about the cleanup.

“We’re doing everything that we can to make sure that this gets done properly and safely. For that to happen, it means that we have to do it very methodically,” he said. “This is something that we have addressed aggressively right from the get go to make sure that number one, first and foremost, we’re taking care of the people of Newburgh and our neighbors.”

According to Bill Myer, Restoration Program Manager for the Air National Guard a remedial investigation is currently being done and once completed the next step would be for a feasibility study to be conducted to evaluate technologies that will assist in cleanup of the soil and surrounding groundwater. A Unified Federal Policy Quality Assurance Project Plan, a work plan that spells out how the work is done, is also being modified at this time. While time and budgeting make the process slow, Myer is committed to the project and the work for the community.

In addition to the public poster board sessions that evening, community advocates such as Riverkeeper and community members of the Stewart Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) are advocating for Stewart Air National Guard to “Speed Up the Cleanup” to expedite actions to reduce off-base PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) pollution.