Saturday, May 12, 2007

Queens water in the clear

(AP) May 12, 2007 -- New water tests found little or no trace of a dry-cleaning chemical that had contaminated tap water in several Queens neighborhoods, the city Department of Environmental Protection said.

None of the 18 samples tested yesterday afternoon had levels of the chemical above federal standards, and 10 had none at all, the agency said.

The agency has said the contamination poses no known health risk to the roughly 64,000 people living in the affected area, which includes parts of St. Albans, Cambria Heights, Hollis and Queens Village.

The DEP said yesterday that it had checked almost 350 local businesses for faulty water or sewer connections, and had found one possibility: a business with an illegal water hookup.

The agency said it was working to get access to the business to take water samples.

Newsday has more info:

Source of water taint eyed

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry DEP......I don't agree with your conclusions!

I'm supposed to accept Federal safety standards for me and my kids' drinking water?

Not with this administration in Washington!

I'm drinking bottled water from now on!

Anonymous said...

I think that some of the local civic groups should hire their own independent consultant to test the area's drinking water!

Anonymous said...

We've had water problems over here in Forest Hills for over eight years now and NOTHING has been done about it.

Brown water (and I mean BROWN - with dirt particles in it)frequently flows out of our fauets once every 4 to 6 weeks and lasts about 24 - 72 hours. It happens without warning - usually when we are bathing or brushing our teeth!

NUMEROUS calls, complaints and letters to 311, Melinda Katz/her staff, the Community Board and DEP have pretty much been ignored. So we have given up, which I am sure is what they want us to do. It's a disgrace that this serious problem with our drinking water is ignored.

So yes - I urge everyone to use bottled water when you can and invest in a good filtration system because the water in these parts
is disgusting.

And I don't care what the DEP says or what the "Federal Safety Standards" are. Brown water with dirt particles floating around in it is not healthy.

Jennifer K
Forest Hills Resident