Water, water everywhere, and there may soon be a dependably potable amount to drink for the 430 customers who receive theirs through the on-again, off-again, water systems operated by the Hudson Valley Water Company (HVWC) in High Falls, West Hurley, Mt. Marion and Boiceville.
On Thursday, January 25, Ulster County executive Jen Metzger shared a Department of Public Service response to her request that the oversight agency remove operational responsibilities from HVWC and install another operator to carry out those duties.
“Today we received a positive response from DPS,” said Metzger, “signaling that they are actively considering our request.”
The original letter was co-signed by a dozen local, county and state elected officials.
Metzger said DPS acknowledged an active investigation into HWVC’s “unacceptable failures to provide basic service to its customers” and said it was “urgently considering short-term actions to ensure customers are provided with safe drinking water.”
Metzger said company president Jeff Fuller has acknowledged his openness “to a facilitated transfer of the water system to a qualified entity.”
Drinking water operations most recently came to a head in the system which serves 25 households in the Town of Olive where residents were forced to drink water driven in by tanker trucks over the holidays and into January because of potentially unsafe levels of arsenic in their taps.
“I look forward to state regulators taking immediate and appropriate action to protect the health, safety, and well-being of the 430 households in our county that depend on these community water systems,” said Metzger.
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