Most would agree access to safe, clean water is a basic human right, but that may not be the case in two West Hurley neighborhoods serviced by a private company, according to Hurley Town Supervisor Melinda McKnight.
Some 84 Hudson Valley Water Companies customers have grappled with numerous interruptions, billing issues and water quality problems for decades. Some have resorted to buying bottled water and installing expensive filtration systems.
The Pine Street system, known as System No. 3, with two wells and an underground tank in the area, serves 16 homes and the West Hurley system, known as System No. 4, services 68 homes in the Holland Drive and Brittany Drive area with three wells and two underground tanks in the area.
System No. 4 is the one that is the most notoriously problematic, McKnight said. “The service is pretty sporadic. There’s frequent water main breaks.”
The Christmas holiday season is the worst, she said, with breaks leaving people without water during peak times. “In all likelihood, it has to do with the fact that because there’s so much bedrock, they probably couldn’t get the mains deep enough,” McKnight said.
On top of the breaks, there are billing problems. Customers are charged a quarterly rate of $87.58 for the first 9000 gallons, then a charge is applied for any usage over that.
However, the company owner relies on the homeowners to provide their own meter readings. “If he doesn’t get them, or sometimes even if he does get them, he’ll do an estimated reading, and the estimate is always way more than what somebody has typically used in the history of their billing,” said McKnight, whose Holland Drive home is connected to the water company’s main.
People are not reliably notified of service interruptions and boil-water advisories, which are required when there is a water main break or other problem, according to McKnight. “They frequently leave like a little slip of paper on the outside of your mailbox under the flag. And then, if the weather is bad, or they forget to leave one in your mailbox, you don’t get the notice about the boil water order,” she said.
The latest issue is a high level of copper in regular test results, indicating the water is too acidic and is corroding plumbing in the homes.
A series of complaints triggered a 2019 investigation by the New York State Department of Public Service, which found 9 violations and made 49 recommendations to correct deficiencies, including replacing all meters, implementing a better method for meter readings, sending clearer bills, having a plan to provide potable water during outages and better communicating outages to customers.
Hudson Valley Water Companies, headquartered in the Long Island town of Woodbury, also provides service to 229 Mt. Marion homes and the Mt. Marion Elementary School in the town of Saugerties; 102 homes in High Falls, a part of Rosendale; and 28 homes in Boiceville, a hamlet in the town of Olive. The state probe focused only on West Hurley’s System No. 4.
Company disputes recent claims of high copper levels
Hudson Valley Water Companies was ordered to install a corrosion management system, which owner Jeffrey Fuller said was placed in service in October 2020. When reached by phone, Fuller, the company owner, attributed the latest spike in copper levels to electrical work at the pump house. “Last year, an engineer came in and made it more effective,” he said, referring to corrosion control. “It was working better than ever.”
That was until recently when an electrician did some work, Fuller said.
“While the electrician was working on it, he changed where the system was connected. He changed it so it wasn’t getting power.” The problem was addressed two months ago, said Fuller, who claims the copper levels will be fine when tested again soon and that the last test was several months ago.
However, McKnight said the copper levels remain high and problems persist. “It literally leaches the copper right out of (the pipes) to the point where there’s a lot of copper staining that happens in appliances,” she said. “It can eat seals on small appliances, coffee makers, any appliance that takes water…People have had significant plumbing breakages. The main septic line failed in the wall in my kitchen because of the acidic water. It also ate the seal that was on the drain pump of my washing machine within a relatively short period of time.”
More testing needed; Lack of transparency or accountability charged
McKnight is trying to get the Department of Public Service to formally close its investigation, which would allow homeowners to pursue civil action against Hudson Valley Water Companies. While the DPS probe is still active, the company is shielded from civil liability. McKnight is also trying to get the county Department of Health to increase the testing frequency to determine if corrosion control measures are working,
“It’s not really clear what’s going on,” McKnight said. “Residents will learn that certain contaminants come back high, but there’s no correspondence about what (Fuller) is required to do to remediate that, or when the work that has been ordered has been completed…There’s just no information, There’s no transparency at all.”
Fuller responded to the 49 recommendations, but it is not clear if there is any follow-up to make sure changes are made.
In his response to the Department of Public Service report, Fuller disputed many claims in the complaints, including reports of low pH, or acidic water. He said the water is consistently between 7.0 and 7.3, not 5.7 as claimed by some customers.
“The pH has never been at that number and it is probable that the customers simply do not know how to properly test anything,” Fuller wrote in his response letter. He said the plumbing is old in customers’ homes and that is the cause of deteriorating pipes, not any actions of his company.
Fuller said there were no instances of inadequate water pressure and said the claims of long periods of time without service are “entirely untrue.” He wrote that repairs are mostly completed within one day, with the exception of a February 2018 Nor’Easter which knocked out a transformer and pole at the pump house.
Nowhere to turn
“There really is very little recourse. The town doesn’t have any say. The oversight really is the Department of Public Service and the Public Service Commission,” McKnight said.
The town and water company customers have been pushing for Fuller to install a backup generator at the pump house, so when the power goes out, people can still have running water. That request has gone unanswered.
Residents have discussed withholding bill payments and placing the money in escrow until Fuller makes repairs, but as it turns out, that can backfire.
“He can immediately turn everybody off for that and charge outrageous amounts to turn them back on and add late fees,” McKnight said. “The Public Service Commission, it seems, has taken whatever justification the company can provide for either not complying with a particular item on that 49 deficiency report. They just kind of accepted that there really isn’t any accountability for him.”
The town of Hurley has explored the possibility of a municipal takeover, but that comes at considerable cost.
Not every property owner has the ability to drill their own well because it is costly and bedrock close to the surface may prevent it.
McKnight said she has discussed the matter with state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, who hosted a panel in December on how money in the federal infrastructure bill could best be used in local communities. Hinchey is working on legislation to develop a state water authority that could help in these situations.
A private water company can’t receive federal infrastructure money, so the town would have to purchase both water systems before they could be eligible.
But not all private water companies are fraught with problems.
The Rolling Meadows Water Company serves a neighborhood in the town of Hurley without issue.
“They’re great. They’re very responsive. They’re responsible operators,” McKnight said.
Complaints pile up, spurring calls for investigation
In an August 7, 2019 letter to the Public Service Commission, which oversees the Department of Public Service, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill requested an investigation into the company’s financial records, rates, system and operating practices. Cahill included letters from 55 residents detailing problems encountered with Hudson Valley Water Companies.
Many describe the ill health effects, destroyed gaskets, frequent outages and billing problems.
“The service issues with Hudson Valley Water Company are taking place with increasing frequency. In the past three years, the acidity of the water has become progressively worse. Since then, we have experienced service outages on average of about every 30 days,” wrote McKnight in a letter.
One outage lasted four days, during which Fuller was forced to provide a water tanker so residents could flush their toilets. Another homeowner wrote he had to make many repairs to his plumbing because of the corrosive water, including the septic pipe that split open.
Many letter writers expressed outrage that the Public Service Commission approved an 11.5% rate hike in 2018 despite the company’s checkered maintenance history.
“Promises made to us last fall — that our antiquated water system would be significantly replaced and restored — have proven to be a ruse, seemingly a way to placate the PSC and West Hurley customers,” wrote Angela Gaudioso.
Then-Supervisor John Perry also wrote to the PSC calling for an investigation.
“A number of residents have felt driven to spend their own money to install filters, which are regularly getting clogged by sediment coming through the system,” Perry wrote. “Residents have also experienced inadequate water pressure and, in one case, long periods of time without water service ranging from a few days to sometimes weeks at a time.”
This is part one of a series.
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