A gallon of water a day: Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?
For neighbors in Petersburgh, that's their allotment for the day, and not just for drinking.
"We want to wash our vegetables," Kathy Share said. "We want to brush our teeth."
The town of about 1,600 is the latest to be dealing with water contamination issues. About two weeks ago, the Department of Health confirmed traces of the man-made chemical PFOA was found in the groundwater. The chemical, found in non-stick pans and fire fighting foam, has been linked to cancer and has also been found in neighboring Hoosick Falls and North Bennington, Vt.
According to town officials, levels of PFOA in some wells ranged from 12,400 parts per trillion to 25.2, the high coming from a well at Taconic Plastics. The current allowable amount by federal standards is 100 parts per trillion.
The county is doing testing of its own.
"We're waiting to get more solid information," Peter Schaaphok, the town's superintendent, said. "And that's sort of been the frustrating thing, that we just don't know what the numbers are right now."
According to results provided by the Department of Environmental Conservation, testing done in 2004 shows some wells at their site had 152,000 and 117,000 parts per trillion of PFOAs.
"This is absolute total gross negligence on Taconic's part," resident Ira Share said. "They knew something about this 12 years ago."
According to those documents, the level of contamination is drastically decreasing after carbon filtration. But people like Ira and Kathy Share, picking up the gallon of water a day Taconic Plastics is paying for, say they had no idea the chemical was in their water, and they hope it isn't too late.
"What are the long term health effects of this?" Ira asked. "Hoosick Falls, Petersburgh and North Bennington, we might be part of just a really wonderful study. We can be the guinea pigs for this."