People who drank contaminated Newburgh water urged to attend community meeting and demand blood testing

For immediate release: October 17, 2016
Contact: Cliff Weathers, Communications Director
914-478-4501, ext. 239; [email protected]

Newburgh, NY — Riverkeeper urges those who may have consumed contaminated City of Newburgh drinking water to attend an important community meeting on October 25 at 7 p.m. and demand that the state Department of Health provide blood testing for all exposed residents. The meeting, organized by the City of Newburgh and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be held at the Newburgh Armory Center, 321 S William Street in Newburgh.

City of Newburgh residents and others who may have consumed contaminated drinking water should call (518) 402-7950, or email [email protected], to request blood testing for themselves and their families.

Newburgh’s drinking water supply has been contaminated with Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS), a toxic chemical associated with numerous health problems. While the city’s tap water is now free of PFOS, according to state test results, the city’s primary reservoir remains contaminated, and those who consumed the water were likely exposed over the course of years, if not decades.

Dan Shapley, Riverkeeper’s Water Quality Program Director, said: “Blood testing is an essential first step in comprehensive medical monitoring, and it must be made available to all who were exposed to contaminated drinking water. Now is the time for people concerned about their health, and the health of their families, to contact the Department of Health to request blood testing. They should also bring their questions and concerns to the community meeting, and urge their neighbors, friends and colleagues to attend.”

Riverkeeper is advocating for an effective and fair health response, a comprehensive cleanup of contamination, and longterm protection and restoration of the city’s drinking water supply.

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