Last week, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released its final plan for a permanent replacement water source for the community of Hoosick Falls.

In 2015, PFOA was discovered in the community’s drinking water supply. Manufacturers Saint Gobain and Honeywell were found to be responsible.

The DEC’s plan is complex, but the nut of it includes developing two new groundwater supply wells, and converting existing test wells south of Hoosick Falls into production wells.

The plan is currently being reviewed by the community, but one Hoosick Falls resident, Jennifer Plouffe, told us she was skeptical. Plouffe and others argue that the entire region is polluted with PFAS chemicals. Additionally, she wondered aloud why the DEC didn’t decide to make the Tomhannock Reservoir, the drinking water source for the city of Troy, the new drinking water source for Hoosick Falls.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos told Capital Tonight that he, too, originally thought the Tomhannock was the community’s best bet.

“I will share that early on, I was also skeptical of the valley’s ability to provide clean water from the aquifer, but we let science be our guide,” Seggos said. “We really took years to drill into the aquifer in the entire valley to find clean water, and not just clean water, but enough water to meet the village’s need.”

When asked if the decision not to utilize the Tomhannock Reservoir, which is further away from Hoosick Falls, was made because of financial considerations, Seggos replied “absolutely not."

Both Saint Gobain and Honeywell will be responsible for paying for the installation of the new wells as well as for the operation and maintenance of the system.  

That said, the two companies have yet to sign off on the DEC’s final plan. 

“We are still working that out,” Seggos said. “We have the state Superfund law, which allows us to go in and spend money if the polluters refuse to. We intend to do that, but I’m confident that we can get the companies on the hook for the cost of the new wells as well as the treatment system moving forward.”

If the companies refuse to participate in the remediation, under Superfund, they can be forced, by the courts, into an agreement.

While there is no timeline in which the companies must commit to the DEC’s plan, Seggos said he is confident that the agency can get them to move on it soon.

“I want to be there, out in Hoosick Falls, with shovel in hand, digging that first hole in the ground, and that’s my intent within the next few months,” Seggos stated.