Is Woodstock town government suffering among other things from a failure to communicate?
“We just stand up here. We spout about what we want to spout about, and you guys just sit there. What the hell happens to it? Does it do anything? Do you actually listen to us, or you just let us mouth off and then go and do what you want to do anyway?”
The arena was the monthly meeting of Woodstock’s town board on May 21. The speaker at the Public Be Heard portion of the session was Chris Bailey, a member of the new group Woodstockers United for Change.
He and several other residents wanted more communication about the sharp increase in PFOS in the water supply, the Shady dump and other issues.
PFOS is a synthetic “forever” chemical used to make products resistant to stains, grease, soil, and water that has been found in increasing quantities in the human blood stream. Although of low acute toxicity, PFOS has attracted much attention for its pervasiveness and environmental impact.
Earlier in the meeting, town supervisor Bill McKenna had reported elevated levels of PFOS from a wellhead recorded in a December 2023 sampling which was recently put online.
Samples from the other wellheads were either zero or below detectable levels, McKenna said later.
More frequent testing
The town has been testing annually for PFOS since 2021, when the level was zero. It was 0.86 ppt (parts per trillion} in 2022 and 3.48 in 2023. The state actionable level is ten ppt. The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision to lower its limit to four ppt won’t be enforced until 2027.
“We’re unsure whether it’s an issue that’s growing, and both the state health department and county health department’s recommendation was. Wait a couple months, take another test, and we’ll just keep testing to look for a trend,” McKenna said.
The town has increased its testing frequency so it can better detect a trend. A new sample was taken a couple of weeks ago, he said, and getting the results could take five to seven weeks. “At this point, it’s under the level, so it is safe,” McKenna said. “As soon as we get the results, we will publicize it.”
That reply wasn’t nearly good enough for councilmember Bennet Ratcliff.
“The EPA doesn’t say that because it’s under the level it’s safe to drink. That’s just the way they measure it,” Ratcliff said. “So it’s not safe to drink. This is a health issue, supervisor. This is a safety issue. This is not anything other than a health issue.”
If that were so, McKenna asked, why hadn’t Ratcliff met with him before about the issue. “You know, it’s interesting, though. If you were so concerned, how come you have come in to see me about this?” he asked.
“Bill, I’m here right now,” Ratcliff shouted back.
While the town stepped up its testing schedule, McKenna doubted a voucher Ratcliff was asking about could be for those most recent testing services. That reply prompted Ratcliff and councilmember Maria-Elena Conte to vote against all vouchers.
Back and forth
Lacking a majority vote due to councilmember Laura Ricci’s absence, McKenna called a special meeting for May 22 at 1 p.m. to pay the town’s monthly bills. That action prompted an angry email from Ratcliff the morning of May 22.
“A voucher vote does not meet the standard for an emergency meeting like the one you called for at 1 p.m. today,” wrote Ratcliff. ”If there were a true emergency item — say flood protection — that required immediate attention and needed the board’s decision-making, this would qualify.”
Ratcliff lectured McKenna in the email. “Your lack of competence at running a meeting is on full display, he wrote. “Don’t expect me to pay vouchers that you don’t know anything about. I urge you to come to meetings better prepared to discuss the voucher payments and stop expecting a rubber stamp from the town board. I will not be attending your pretend emergency meeting today.”
The May 2024 vouchers were paid at the May 22 meeting without Ratcliff and Conte. It was Ricci’s turn to lecture Ratcliff on his absence.
“Hi, Bennet. Instead of constructively working through issues outside of meetings, as you could have done yesterday after looking at the vouchers but before the meeting, you seem to prefer to wait until you have an audience and the press and then just complain loudly,” Ricci said in her email reply later that afternoon. “I keep waiting for you to become a constructive problem-solver in Woodstock. I guess I’ll keep waiting.”
McKenna said he later determined the voucher in question was for routine monthly water testing, but did not include PFOS.
Money from somewhere
During Public Be Heard, Bailey said McKenna’s earlier comments were the most he’s heard on the subject. It was not a compliment.
“What you said tonight about the PFOS testing is the most I’ve ever heard from you guys on any of these issues,” Bailey said. “What I would like to see is more town halls, not these town-board meetings where you just tack this on the end. I would like that town hall where you make a presentation and we can have a discussion. We want to know what’s going on. If the town is going to do some extra testing, tell us rather than just let us wonder about it.”
Stephanie Kaplan said she just lost her mother to cancer, and PFOS was cancer-causing. “Maybe you’re doing some resampling. but we have no way to know if what you’re doing is adequate,” she said. There’s no communication with us. It is unconscionable that you have not communicated with the town to let the townspeople who are on town water know about this problem.”
Shady resident Luke Hunsberger cited the recent $8-million judgment against Joseph and Rachel Karolys. Why wasn’t the contaminated fill at 10 Church Road included? He wanted to ask attorney general Leticia James “to help us out in Shady.”
Hunsberger wanted to establish a link between the PFOS found at 10 Church Road and the town well. “We’ve been drinking bottled water now for a long time at $8 for a five-gallon thing, and we’re going through it at a rapid rate. It’s expensive for us. We just want clean water, which is one of the reasons we came to Shady in the first place,” he said.
Julie Szabo passed out papers with attorney general Letitia James’ contact information. “The Town of Woodstock took Karolys to court, and there was established evidence in the court statements that the stuff that’s in that dump was brought to Shady. It’s the same stuff. So why can’t we get some money from somewhere to clean it up?” she asked.
The guidance we’re getting
McKenna said he encouraged everyone to write attorney general James and the Department of Environmental Conservation.
“I will tell you that since about May of 2020 I’ve been on to the attorney general to include the Town of Woodstock. And I can’t even get a simple answer back,” McKenna said.
Ratcliff said he had gotten a different answer from Lem Srolovic, environmental protection bureau chief in James’ officer. “He told me that it was because supervisor Bill McKenna can clean it up using Woodstock’s laws.”
After the meeting, McKenna said the town couldn’t do much of anything because the DEC did not find state violations at 10 Church Road. “They put it in black and white on paper,” he said. “There’s no problem there, and they say the cleanup is sufficient. It’s not an issue. So how did we win in court? Because we’re stuck. We can’t do anything about it.”
McKenna said he didn’t think an information session about the PFOS situation would be helpful since people don’t listen and mostly yell and complain.
“People can come to my office any time they want,” he said. “I’ll speak to anyone. Mostly anyone. Keep in mind New York State … their limit is ten [parts per trillion]. And I’ve talked to both the county and state health department and they said, No problem …. That’s the health department. They’re tasked to protect us. And this is the guidance I’m getting from them. Are they right? Wrong? I don’t know.”
McKenna said he drank the water at the town offices, which are on the municipal supply. “I drink my coffee every day,” he said. “I drink several bottles of water from the tap in my thermos.”
Join the family! 
