A Long Island village is asking the federal government to help pay for a new $55 million water treatment facility after residents have been drinking water containing toxic and carcinogenic substances for years. are doing.
“We will not allow the Village of Hempstead to become a second Flint, Michigan,” Mayor Waylin Hobbs Jr. told the Post Tuesday evening.
Communities in Nassau County have been battling astronomical levels of 1,4 dioxane, listed as a “possible human carcinogen” by the Environmental Protection Agency, for years, with the highest levels detected The number has soared to 900% higher than New York state’s permitted value.
Health officials traced the unhealthy water quality to the village’s more than 100-year-old water treatment plant and traced the presence of 1,4 dioxane (the same chemical found in laundry detergent and shampoo) in all nine wells.
Fed up, the village has already drafted and approved a plan to replace the defunct facility, but is now seeking emergency assistance from state and federal partners to help with the estimated $55 million project.
“Then that burden would not be on the residents of the Village of Hempstead,” said Hobbs, a Democrat who has been president since 2021.
“We are the largest village in New York state, but we are a community with many residents who are struggling economically, and we know that the cost of living is extremely difficult across Long Island.”
According to a 2022 study, the highest levels of 1,4-dioxane in Hempstead Village have fallen to between 7 and 10 ppb, which is significantly higher than the maximum contaminant level of 1 ppb. Established by New York State in 2020.
PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals,” have also been found in drinking water.
The chemicals were released into the groundwater by commercial and industrial sources and were eventually sucked into the village’s nine wells, spreading throughout the community of 55,000 people. Research shows.
The presence of this chemical is common throughout Long Island, where Long Island’s only source of drinking water comes from groundwater aquifers.
Although research on potential carcinogens is still new, the EPA estimates that: People who consistently consume high levels of 1,4 dioxane The chance of developing cancer increases to 1 in 1 million.
The people of Hempstead Village also have little room to protect themselves. Median household income is below 41% In the rest of Nassau County, Hobbs said voters can’t afford to buy bottled water, order home delivery or even buy water filters.
There are no known cases of cancer in the area directly linked to drinking water, but officials don’t plan to wait around for results, Hobbs said.
“It’s nothing new in the water, but we need to protect not just our current residents, but our future, our children, our children’s children, and generations to come.” We want to take proper action now,” the mayor said.
Whether or not the state and federal governments provide funding, the village will move forward with plans to build the new facility.
On Tuesday, the board voted in favor of a $55 million loan for a new water treatment facility, with the clear hope that the government would ease the heavy burden.
When asked if the federal and state governments are borrowing money to build a new plant in Hempstead Village, Hobbs said:
“Make no mistake, it’s their voters.”
