Standing near Washington Lake that once supplied Newburgh’s drinking water, U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan was joined by local officials and environmental advocates Friday to denounce the Department of Defense’s decision to postpone a key phase of its PFAS investigation at Stewart Air National Guard Base.

The remedial investigation and feasibility study, which will help determine how to clean up contamination at the base, was scheduled for completion this month. The deadline was initially pushed to 2047 before being delayed again to 2051.

Ryan noted that a 5-year-old in Newburgh today would be 30 before the study and not the cleanup itself, would be completed.

“That is outrageous and a grave, grave injustice,” Ryan said.

Newburgh stopped drawing drinking water from Washington Lake in May 2016 after state health officials confirmed PFAS contamination affecting the city. A state investigation later identified Stewart as a source of the contamination, linking it to the historic use of the PFAS-containing firefighting foam.

After briefly switching to Brown’s Pond, the city began drawing water from the Catskill Aqueduct in June 2016 and continues to use it today, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

A decade after Newburgh changed water sources, local advocates and Ryan had expected the federal investigation to reach a major milestone this month. Jennifer Rawlison of the Newburgh Clean Water Project said members of the Stewart Air National Guard Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) had recently been assured that the investigation remained on schedule before learning that its completion had been pushed back by decades.

“We weren’t given the courtesy of a phone call or an email,” Rawlison, also a lifelong Newburgh resident, said. “We had to find out through the news.”

The delay undermined the trust residents had placed in the military throughout the investigation, according to Rawlison.

“For 10 years, the people of Newburgh have done everything asked of us,” Rawlison said. “We have participated in health studies, attended public forums, answered surveys, and dedicated countless unpaid hours to the RAB process, trusting that the military would ultimately do right by us; instead, the Department of Defense treats our lives as optional.”

Rawlison said the estimated cleanup cost has risen to more than $93 million. She said that delaying the investigation leaves another generation “to inherit a poisoned environment” and the “exhausting burden of fighting for clean water.”

“With these reckless delays, my daughter’s generation and quite possibly their future children are being handed an inheritance of toxic exposure, elevated cancer risks, and lost time traded for zero assurances from the military,” she said.

The effects of the contamination are already reflected in Newburgh’s water costs.

Wayne Vradenburgh, Newburgh’s Water Superintendent, said untreated water purchased from the Catskill Aqueduct costs approximately $120,000 per month. Before the city changed sources, it drew untreated water from Washington Lake without having to purchase it from another water system, he continued.

New York State committed to paying Newburgh’s Catskill Aqueduct water costs after the city switched sources. Council Member Ronald Zorrilla said support is provided through agreements renewed every two years.

Zorrilla, who also represents the city on the RAB, said the recurring agreements leave Newburgh without a permanent guarantee that it will not eventually become responsible for the cost.

“When these water bills come due, it’s not landing on the polluter; it lands on working families, seniors with fixed incomes, right here in Newburgh, that are already having trouble paying and keeping up with bills that are just getting higher,” the councilmember said.

While long-term funding remains uncertain, Vradenburgh emphasized that the water currently reaching residents is safe. He described the Catskill Aqueduct supply as “champagne water” that is additionally filtered through Newburgh’s treatment system before reaching residents.

Although the state is paying for the aqueduct, Zorrilla said that does not compensate for losing access to Washington Lake or eliminate the need to address the contamination.

“We had an asset that we owned, and we’re not going to trade a poison reservoir for a monthly check,” he said.

With the study now pushed back to 2051, Ryan and local advocates said their focus is on pressuring the Department of Defense to restore its previous timeline.

Ryan wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Aug. 5, asking that the department restore its PFAS remediation timelines and provide a detailed written brief within 30 days. He also called for written justification citing a documented technical or legal necessity before further delays are imposed.

The next opportunity for residents to question officials involved in the investigation will be during a Stewart RAB poster session on Oct. 21.