A Woodstock documentarian hopes his latest film will bring attention to how illegal dumping in the hamlet of Shady poses a danger to neighbors and the water supply.
Chris Finlay was inspired by the crisis in Flint, Michigan, caused by lead-tainted drinking water. “The problem that happened in Flint, impressive as that number is, it could happen anywhere,” he said.
Like in Shady.
Frank and Pam Eighmey and other residents of Reynolds Lane have been dealing with construction and demolition [C&D] debris delivered as fill at 10 Church Lane by contractor Joseph Karolys. Tests have found the debris contains PFOS and other forever chemicals that could make their way into the unconsolidated aquifer, and then into the nearby town water supply.
“Their chemical properties make PFOS difficult to remove using conventional water-treatment processes,” Finlay said. “It’s very scary. We can’t get rid of them. They’re there forever.”
In December 2020, Karolys began delivery of more than 200 truckloads of fill containing C&D debris to 10 Church Road. It is against the town’s solid-waste law to dispose of construction debris.
Prior to the June 27 primary, town supervisor Bill McKenna and his opponent Bennet Ratcliff have been battling over the correct town response to the situation. Finlay said he didn’t contact town officials for the documentary. He said he wanted to keep politics out of it and present the facts for the viewers to decide what should be done.
“The documentary Shady Waters is about the people here in our community and Woodstock,” Finlay explained, “the people who sometimes have to work two or even three jobs just to make ends meet. It’s about people who don’t have time to get involved in politics and don’t have time to attend town meetings.”
Finlay will host a test screening of Shady Waters at Tinker Street Cinema in Woodstock June 26 at 7 p.m. There is a $10 suggested donation. Proceeds will go to defray the Eighmeys’ costs for legal and professional services. A Q&A panel after the screening will feature experts in the field. Geologist John Conrad, retained by the Eighmeys, is confirmed.
Finlay said this is probably his fourth or fifth documentary. It will be his second to be screened in Woodstock. Last year, Homeless in Woodstock, Last Night in The Van explored the primary causes of homelessness now how the system let them down during the Covid-19 pandemic.
That film too features the Eighmeys. Frank Eighmey, a bus inspector and mechanic, lives in Shady with his wife Amy and son Aaron. Frank has had to re-mortgage his family home, spending at least $50,000 trying to remedy a problem literally dumped in his back yard. Insufficient retaining methods caused a landslide, sending debris-laden mud down the hill and next to the home within feet of the Eighmeys’ well, making their water undrinkable.
Costs go beyond paying for the services of a lawyer and a geologist. Eighmey has to spend nearly $200 a month on bottled water for drinking and cooking.
“That’s $2400 a year. If you’re wealthy, that’s not a lot of money. But if you’re working-class, that’s a lot,” Finlay said. “In the three years since the dumping of construction and demolition material near Frank’s property, he hasn’t been able to update his vehicles, go on vacation or spend money on his granddaughter. He just has no cash.”
Finlay, an Irish émigré who has lived in Woodstock since 1994, said he himself has always been able to drink tap water. He wants it to stay that way for two reasons, because it’s expensive to buy water and it’s very heavy to carry.
“It’s a beautiful thing to be able to turn on the tap and know that the water you’re drinking and the water you’re cooking with is safe,” he said. “One thing I know that people in filmmaking is they need to be reminded. We have a very short attention span today, and that’s why I started with the facts. Most these facts have already been reported a bunch of times, but people need to know again.”
Drone footage in the beginning shows that the film is not just about a neighbor complaining about trash dumped in his back yard. “For me it is there’s a very simple solution to the Shady problem. And that’s to listen to professionals, to hire somebody from outside of the town, to pay them for the services, even two people in case one is contradictory to the other, and follow that plan,” said Finlay, a civil engineering field technician in Ireland.
Supervisor Bill McKenna said the town has done what it can to the extent of the law. The construction debris was removed, and the dangerous slope facing the Eighmeys was regraded and stabilized. Sampling by the state Department of Environmental Conservation has determined that ten percent of the material was concrete, asphalt and wood and the rest contained natural rock. Construction debris totaling less than 5000 cubic yards may be disposed of without state permits. The DEC does not believe the situation poses a hazard.
McKenna proposed a capital-project account for the cleanup fund with $200,000 in surplus funds, but failed to get support from the town board. The town is barred from spending taxpayer funds on private property except by court order, but it has the power to recoup the money by levying the cost on the property owner’s tax bill.
McKenna has since attempted to raise money privately to fund the cost of testing and monitoring at the property.
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