Newburgh City Manager Michael Ciaravino is looking forward to the day the city’s water can safely come from its original water source, Washington Lake. 

The city currently gets its water from the Catskill Aqueduct because of high levels of the contaminant PFOS, found in Washington Lake last year. The Department of Defense will begin taking watersamples in and around Stewart Air National Guard Base, which is believed to be the source of the contamination.

Senator Charles Schumer announced that decision Monday.

"This will give us a tremendous opportunity to see if the studies that have been done by the state Department of Environmental Conservation can be replicated or duplicated," Ciaravino said.

Schumer says one of the places being tested is Recreation Pond, which the DEC found to have PFOS levels 85 times the federal health advisory limit.

Ciaravino says this testing is important because prior to the findings, water from the pond flowed into the lake. Now he wants state and federal officials to take the testing to the next level. 

"We want to make certain that the inquiry has been expanded to include not only PFOS – which we greatly appreciate – but other potential contaminants and emerging contaminants that could be lurking in our water supply," Ciaravino said.

As for PFOS, Ciaravino says while the water from Recreation Pond is currently being diverted away from Washington Lake, he hopes that state and federal leaders will agree to filter Recreation Pond water so there is no chance of it re-contaminating the lake.