Albany County lawmakers have introduced a new bill to improve intergovernmental communication following concerns over water quality in the Town of Bethlehem.
A new intergovernmental communication law was introduced during Monday night's meeting of the Albany County Legislature. Under Local Law B, government officials and entities will be notified when a public health threat is detected in a water or soil sample.
A series of incidents involving water quality in the town of Bethlehem spurred lawmakers to create a notification system county health officials would employ to disseminate information.
The law was introduced and sponsored by the Legislature’s Democratic Chairwoman Joanne Cunningham. The legislator's 34thdistrict includes a portion of Bethlehem.
"The purpose of it is to develop a process within Albany County that would foster communication between the county and municipalities when there are there are instances where the county has done either soil or water testing, and produced some, you know, elevated results that are outside of health and safety standards," said Cunningham.
Bethlehem Town Board Member David DeCancio, also a Democrat, spoke during Monday's county legislature meeting.
"I wholeheartedly support Local Law B. The establishment of an intermunicipal communication system to safeguard our residents. The health and safety of our communities is paramount, and Albany County residents deserve to know that their government bodies are communicating and collaborating when potential environmental events occur, and that they are addressed aggressively and proactively," DeCancio said.
Bethlehem's municipal water supply was tainted by an algae bloom in late October, and last month biosolids were found to have contaminated several private wells with coliform bacteria.
Democratic Town Supervisor David VanLuven learned in mid-February that a farmer in the town of New Scotland had been applying biosolids to one of his fields, some two-thirds of a mile from the town's Black Creek Reservoir.
"I appreciate Albany County, the Albany County Legislature, stepping forward to help ensure that our communication lines remain strong, and when possible to make them even stronger," VanLuven said.
Democratic County Executive Dan McCoy, who is quoted in a statement supporting the new county law, was the one who announced a 90-day moratorium on biosolids.
Around the time Bethlehem was addressing the biosolids issue, the town's Public Works department found 12 dead geese near the Clapper Road Water Treatment Plant in Selkirk. VanLuven says the town immediately notified health and environmental agencies.
"The dead bird situation turned out to have absolutely nothing to do with the water supply. It was bird flu," VanLuven said. "The Bethlehem water picture is good. We continue to meet all of the rigorous state and federal safety guidelines, so our water has been safe to drink, continues to be safe to drink, and we as a town are investing in exploring additional treatment options to keep it that way as new and emergency and chemicals and situations arise, and also to protect our water source, to keep things from getting into our raw water in the first place."
Recently, Bethlehem tested its public drinking water sources for toxic PFAS chemicals. A chemical called PFHxS was found at 2.46 parts per trillion in one well in the New Scotland wellfield. The level is below EPA’s Maximum Contaminant level of 10 parts per trillion.
Local Law B has been sent to the legislature's Law and Health committees for review on March 26 and 27, respectively. A public hearing is scheduled April 29 and the measure will go back to the legislature for a vote on May 12.
