By Nathan Mayberg
HARRIMAN — Village of Harriman Mayor Stephen Welle declared the water situation in the village an emergency on Tuesday and ordered that water from the Harriman Business Park well be diluted with the River Road Treatment Plant well.
The River Road well had been shut off following a Jan. 21 notice from the Department of Health that water at the well had an average level of alpha emitters exceeding the allowable limit.
The village's water has exceeded the maximum allowable level of alpha emitters in its water during quarterly testing three times in the past two years.
Alpha emitters are defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an ionizing radiation which can increase the risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer.
A consultant working with the Village of Harriman on its water quality issues told the public on Tuesday that it had more to fear from a Big Mac than it did from radiation in its water.
The remark by Thomas Cusack, a hydrogeologist with the firm of Leggette, Brashears and Graham, was in response to a comment from Jennifer Carrillo who said village residents have a choice "whether we have a Big Mac; we don't have a choice whether we get radium in our body."
"There is more risk in a Big Mac," Cusack responded during a meeting at the village hall.
The average alpha level reported on Jan. 21 at the North Main treatment plant for the year ended Dec. 31, 2014 was 20.9 picocuries per liter, which is more than 39 percent above the allowable level under the New York Sanitary Code.
That was the second quarter in a row that the village was in violation.
The village's water tested at 36 picocuries per liter at one well in August 2014, Cusack said. That is more than double the allowable level.
Options still on the table from 2013
Cusack said he had previously discussed with the board options for treating the water in 2013 after 2012 results for alpha at the North Main Street plant exceeded levels.
Those options included a $440,000 project that was shelved over concerns about the cost, in addition to $750,000 of replacing equipment over 20 years, he said.
Plus, the village's alpha levels didn't exceed the allowable threshold in 2013, he said.
The board considered a dilution approach estimated to cost $200,000, but opted not to.
Instead, the village sought to drill a new well near the Ramapo River but there wasn't enough water flow at the site.
Cusack said the village will now take the dilution route. That process is in the concept and design process. The entire project could take months to complete, Cusack said. A plumbing project for the North Main Street well could cost approximately $100,000, Welle said.
The contaminated well continues to operate.
Cusack told the public that water they are drinking may have lower levels of alpha emitters since it is blended with other wells. He said those who live closest to the North Main Street treatment plant, likely have the higher levels of alpha.
For James Bickerstaff, a Harriman resident whose wife Sarah was diagnosed with leukemia six years ago, the issue was the timeliness of the village's notification to residents.
The village contracts with Orange County Labs to conduct water testing. According to Orange County Department of Health Commissioner Eli Avila, the county was not notified until three months after water test results showed the initial alpha overage last year in September. Village residents didn't get the notice until last month.
"Why does it take two to three months?" Bickerstaff asked.
Sarah Arroyo, a resident of Harriman Woods with a newborn child and a two-year-old daughter said she and residents at the complex were never notified of the violation.
"Nobody's gotten a notice," Arroyo said.
Welle said the notices were sent out to property owners, which is why apartment dwellers like Arroyo didn't receive one.
The Department of Health requires that municipalities abide by EPA regulations over how to notify residents.
These guidelines state that municipalities must notify all users of the water system, and deliver notices by hand if necessary.
"I am fuming," Arroyo said.
Where does the radiation come from?
Cusack said it was rare for water to test at acceptable levels of alpha and then suddenly "shows a trigger."
While he said it is "quite obvious" that the village's water has been exposed to radiological material, the cause can not be pinpointed.
Cusack believes the cause is likely from the bedrock formations of the village and doesn't believe it is related to the closed down Nepera chemical plant, which is not far from the village's water plant. That plant was being cleaned up under a federal remediation program known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act after an order of consent between the plant and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation in 2009. It is not clear what, if anything, has been done to clean up the site and protect the groundwater from contamination at the plant site since its closure in 2005.
"I don't think there's any connection at all," said Orange County Department of Health Senior Public Engineer Steve Gagnon.
"People are exposed to radiation every day," he said.
"I don't know for sure where these things come from," Gagnon said.
Gagnon said the alpha levels in Harriman's water are "very low."
Between 2006 and 2008, the village's water supply tested above the maximum allowable levels for uranium six times in two wells. Those wells were shut down.
Boiling water won't help
Gagnon said that boiling affected water "is not going to lower your exposure to radiologicals."
A notice sent by the village to residents about the radiation in the water, advises those who are elderly, with a severely compromised immune system, who are pregnant or who have infant children in the home may be "at increased risk." Some may have an "increased risk of getting cancer," the notice states.
Gagnon said the most effective way to deal with the water is through a reverse osmosis water filter system for their sink.
Some residents said they are using bottled water.
Michael Hagopian, owner of Gold's Gym, said he is concerned about the water situation.
Welle said those most directly affected by the water problem are on the west side of the Ramapo River in the village, which is largely residential.
While only two wells are in violation of state code, the entire water system is deemed in violation. There are 12 wells used by the village.