Update: Impact of water scandals hitting the US

A month ago we warned that Hoosick Falls in NY, a town that made Teflon products, was told to stop drinking and cooking with tap water due to high levels of industrial chemicals, namely perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the water supply. Like the citizens of Flint, who were also hit by a water scandal, the residents of Hoosick Falls had raised concerns over water contamination for a long time due outbreaks of cancer in the community. Following on, the impact on these communities has been catastrophic from banks refusing to give mortgages to residents not washing dishes and clothes causing a public health emergency. The cases are also heading towards federal class-action lawsuits against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, as well accusations of a cover-up by authorities across the US. Furthermore, PFOA has now been found in rivers miles outside Hoosick in Petersburgh and in wells in North Bennington. Across the US, concern over contaminated water has risen in areas such as Seattle and Minnesota; polls reveal that nearly half of Americans are now concerned about their water supply.

HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. — One resident called 911 asking whether the village’s water would burn his skin off. Families have lined up to have their blood drawn and their wells tested. Banks stopped giving out mortgages, and some local residents stopped washing their dishes, their clothes and themselves. Erin Brockovich has been to town.

Such are the unpleasant contours of a public health emergency that is playing out in Hoosick Falls, a quiet river-bend village near the New York-Vermont border that has been upended by disclosures that the public water supply was tainted with high levels of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a toxic chemical linked in some studies to an increased risk for cancer, thyroid disease and serious complications during pregnancy.

Last week, a federal class-action lawsuit was filed against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, the current and former owners of the plant that, according to the state, was the source of the PFOA contamination. The toxic chemical is associated with the making of Teflon, which was used in products manufactured at the plant.

After the revelation of lead contamination in Flint, Mich., where Gov. Rick Snyder’s response was widely criticized, the situation in Hoosick Falls has provoked both deep concern about water quality and a heightened scrutiny of how public officials have responded.