Some West Hurley customers of the beleaguered Hudson Valley Water Company (HVWC) have lead in their water, Hurley town supervisor Mike Boms announced at a February 27 meeting of the town board. System Number Three, which serves 17 residences on Pine Street, has tested positive for lead. The testing was completed in December, but the town wasn’t notified until February 23.
“To me, that’s another nail in Jeffrey Fuller’s coffin,” Boms said of the company owner. “We’ve had problems with Hudson Valley Number Four, with all the problems there. Hudson Valley Three basically was kind of clean, and now it isn’t that way.”
The Public Service Commission has given Fuller, whose Ulster County operations are in Saugerties, Rosendale, Boiceville and Pine Hill, until March 1 to show cause why Hudson Valley Water Company should not be taken over by another operator.
The water company customers have been complaining for years about frequent outages, water so caustic it eats through their plumbing, constant billing problems and other issues.
The suggestion being made now is that Hudson Valley Water Companies One through Five be put together into one Ulster County water district.
Boms said he was notified of the lead problem while on his way home after a tough day on February 23. To get the message that there something wrong with the water “kind of broke my heart,” Boms said.
He contacted the operator of Hudson Valley Water Company Number Three. “I was a little emotional,” he conceded. “I yelled at her and I said, Are you making sure that you are contacting these people?”
Boms said he was told a letter was going out. Boms said he offered to get the addresses and phone numbers and contact the affected customers from his office.
“I insisted that they be called, and I believe the operator went door-to-door notifying them,” he said. “I am hoping that’s what she did. I did. I did get a letter from her saying that they will be notified. I don’t know in what manner they were notified.”
Boms was told the customers were being offered clean water until repairs are made. “I made that point clear to them to give them water,” Boms said.
The Hudson Valley Water Company’s claim the lead came from customers’ pipes has not been confirmed by the Ulster County Health Department. The health department has instituted all houses be tested, Boms said.
“This I find really absurd. The testing was done on December 27, 2023. That’s six, seven weeks ago.” Boms said it was a routine test where five samples were taken, and one tested for lead.
“If you hold that percentage,” he said, “that’s four households that could have it. But the only problem is, it took us six, seven weeks to get the test coming through. We can’t wait seven more weeks to find out the others.”
The other West Hurley water company, which has 67 residences, was also tested on December 27. Results haven’t come back yet.
“There’s got to be a better method than this, and I think the better method is get rid of Fuller,” Boms said.
“Do we need to start calling them daily?” Tim Kelly asked. “I would be calling them daily and inquire as to the status of things with them if that’s what it takes.”
“This is 2024. Let’s get this together,” Boms urged.
The latest PSC order required HVWC to submit documentation demonstrating its ability to operate a water system by Friday, March 1, 2024. Fuller’s request to delay for another month was turned down.
The PSC has the authority to appoint a temporary operator if it decides HVWC is incapable of maintaining adequate service.
In a February 28 letter to the PSC, Fuller said he does not agree appointing an outside operator is “either necessary, warranted or reasonable, given the actual circumstances, as opposed to the allegations listed in the commission order.”
Fuller wrote his company has “submitted all reporting, has required and maintains continuous records of these. There may be other issues that are not addressed here, but we have had serious time constraints for submitting this show cause order.”
Fuller said that he is, however, open to selling companies Three and Four in West Hurley and the system in Boiceville.
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