Reps. Zeldin, Rice, King, Suozzi, Local Officials & Advocates Call for EPA Action to Address Contaminated Drinking Water

Press Release

On Tuesday, June 18, 2019, Representatives Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), Kathleen Rice (D, NY-4), Peter King (R, NY-2) and Tom Suozzi (D, NY-3) were joined by local elected officials and environmental advocates at the Town of Hempstead Department of Water to call on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set maximum contaminant levels for drinking water and act to help protect Long Islanders from contaminated drinking supplies.

A recent study from the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) found that Long Island has the most contaminated drinking water in New York State. Several contaminants, such as 1,4 dioxane and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), were detected above the EPA's reference concentrations, which are based on health assessments.

Congressman Zeldin is a member of the Congressional PFAS Task Force which was established to address the urgent threat of PFAS to help better protect communities from the harmful effects of the chemicals.

The use of industrial strength firefighting foam during past training exercises, such as those undertaken at the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton and Gabreski Air National Guard Base, have been known to introduce chemicals, such as PFAS, into the surrounding ground water, potentially contaminating drinking supplies.

"When it comes to our communities' drinking water, there is no room for error," said Congressman Zeldin following the press conference. "With Long Island identified as the area with the most amount of emerging contaminants in our drinking water compared to the rest of New York State, all levels of government, including the EPA, must act with urgency to help protect local families' drinking supplies. This is the drinking water for so many Long Islanders, and failure to act is not an option."

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