The City of Newburgh will get a biomonitoring program to help residents that may have been exposed to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in the city's drinking water. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, Senator Bill Larkin, and Assemblyman Frank Skartados announced the program on Sept. 19.
As part of the program, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the New York State Department of Health are supposed to begin taking blood samples from Newburgh residents.
Stewart Air National Guard Base is currently taking the blame for the water issue and was labeled as a state Superfund site by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The contamination is believed to come from a firefighting foam that was previously in use on the base. The contamination drained into Washington Lake, the city's former main drinking water source.
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