Last week, I had two meetings with local activists focused on clean water and the issues at the Village’s wastewater treatment plant, as well as any future expansions. We discussed how the county might be able to assist with testing, guidance, and other needs.

The Saw Kill Watershed Community (SWKC) presented water testing results from various locations around Red Hook. The group discussion suggested that waste levels in the streams near the treatment plant are dropping. The village has reported that the facility’s discharges have returned to compliance.

There are still concerns about whether any contaminants at the brownfield that hosts the treatment plant have migrated and how storm runoff at the location could impact that. Many questions and not many answers so far.

While the state is primarily responsible for implementing, overseeing, and enforcing environmental regulations, the county has its own Water and Wastewater Authority that manages treatment plans and water systems. They took over the Tivoli system a few years ago.

The county administration has still not provided the Q2 EMS numbers that were promised over two weeks ago. We continue to request them.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, reach out anytime.