NEW SCOTLAND — Residents continue to raise the alarm about the cancer-causing compounds found in their drinking water supply. 

Ryan Dunham, who lives in New Scotland just several hundred feet from the Vly Creek Reservoir that supplies Bethlehem with water, uses well water for his home.

According to the most-recent available figures, from 2023, approximately 760 of New Scotland’s water customers receive their water from Bethlehem.

Dunham told The Enterprise this week that he became aware of a problem when his 11-year-old daughter screamed in the shower.  The water smelled like excrement.

A farmer, who has property across from the Dunhams, had always sprayed manure on his field, which smelled for a day and then was fine, Dunham said. The trouble began when the farmer switched to fertilizing with biosolids, made from sewer sludge, Dunham said.

At the end January, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy issued an executive order halting for 90 days the agricultural use of biosolids within county limits.

Researchers claim that these municipal-filtered wastes, known as biosolids, contain heavy metals like lead and mercury, numerous pathogens, and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the so-called “forever chemicals.”

Albany County’s 90-day moratorium was prompted by calls regarding two area farms, McCoy told The Enterprise at the end of January. “It gives us the authority to go on their property to investigate. And it also gives us the authority to start looking into other farms to see if they're using it.”

About two weeks later, the town Bethlehem in a letter to the public said it had been informed by the county “about biosolids being used on a farm field in New Scotland approximately 2/3 of a mile from our Vly Creek Reservoir on Friday, February 14, 2025.” The farm field, on Upper Flat Rock Road, is owned through an LLC of the Tommells, a family of local cattle breeders, which did not return a request from The Enterprise for comment.

DEC response

The state Department of Environmental Conservation in response to questions from The Enterprise said in a statement, “Currently, there are no DEC permits issued to facilities to perform land application of Class B biosolids in Albany County and DEC has no records of issuing permits to facilities to perform such applications. Some out-of-state biosolids products with an approval to distribute in New York State were distributed in the county in the past.

“If a finished Class A biosolids product (compost, heat dried/pelletized material, etc.) comes in from out of state, DEC requires distributors to meet New York’s stringent requirements. DEC’s review includes reviewing the active permit in the other state to ensure it meets the same pathogen reduction measures as facilities in New York. DEC also looks at the analyses of the final product to ensure it meets the same standards that in-state products must meet. Out-of-state distributors must also submit an annual report with these analyses.

“Once approved to be distributed in New York State, the product may be used the same as any in-state Class A biosolids material. Class A biosolids must meet state and federal contaminant level requirements, including pathogens, and can be distributed as use for food crops, feed crops, and fiber crops.

“DEC’s Division of Materials Management has not investigated the contents of Class A biosolids spread in Albany County. Spreading of Class A biosolids product (compost, heat dried/pelletized material, etc.) does not require a solid waste permit. As outlined above, all finished Class A biosolids from out-of-state, requires DEC approval.”

Bethlehem’s view

The letter from Bethlehem said that the Albany County Department of Health had assessed private wells across the street from the town-owned wellfield and determined that they had elevated total coliform and E. coli levels, but did not inform Bethlehem of this contamination.

According to Bethlehem, the town supplies over 11,600 homes and businesses with roughly 1.6 billion gallons of drinking water each year. This water is delivered through 227 miles of pipes from four main sources: the Vly Creek Reservoir and New Scotland Wellfield, the Selkirk Wellfield, and the City of Albany. Water from the Vly Creek Reservoir is treated at the New Salem Water Treatment Plant in New Scotland.

The Feb. 18 letter from Bethlehem Supervisor David VanLuven said, “On learning about” the contamination, he:

— Ordered testing, which confirmed drinking water was compliant, but additional tests were ordered; 

— Contacted the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Albany County Health Department for information on the biosolids, well testing, and any potential threats;

— Sought partnerships with New Scotland for further well testing; 

— Ordered town codes be reviewed for biosolid use, and that a mechanism for inter-municipal information sharing be established.

“One of the primary concerns about biosolids is the potential introduction of PFOAs and other contaminants,” VanLuven’s letter stated. Moving forward, the town would work with water experts and the state Department of Health to identify additional treatment technologies to ensure safe and clean municipal water for residents. Bethlehm is also moving to ban biosolids use in town, the letter states, while also advocating for Albany County to do the same.

Whistleblower

The county was made aware of the issues in New Scotland because of Dunham, whose New Scotland Road home sits 300 feet from the Vly Creek Reservoir. 

In a timeline of events recounted in a county email, on June 5 of last year, Dunham filed a complaint regarding a change in the color and odor of his water following a recent rain event. Dunham paid out-of-pocket for his own testing, which showed positive results for Total Coliform (TC) and E. coli.

Dunham, according to the email, expressed concern that the Tommell-owned field across the street from him was recently using biosolids, and that’s what was impacting his well.

In response, staff members from the county Department of Health conducted a site visit and offered to take water samples from Dunham and two neighboring residences. The email stated that county staffers had observed visual and olfactory evidence of recent biosolids application at the field. 

Testing from neighboring properties also yielded positive for both Total Coliform (TC) and E. coli, which prompted more well inspections of the surrounding area. Between Aug. 8 and Sept. 7, a total of 10 residences were sampled, with six raw water samples tested positive for E. coli. 

“So the Department of Health came out and tested for E. Coli and coliform,” Dunham told The Enterprise on March 1, and, according to the EPA, the maximum acceptable level of coliform bacteria in drinking water is zero per 100 milliliters — Dunham’s water tested at 200. 

Dunham said he had an ultra-violet light filtration system and had asked the Department of Health, ‘Why is the UV system not removing these contaminants?’ And they told me that there was so much contamination in my well that the UV system could not catch up, and that’s why the water was brown.”

The water took its toll on the neighboring filtration system of Todd Gray, who placed a rough estimate of $6,000 on replacing his UV system, but also noted it was nearly a quarter-century old. 

Dunham, his wife, Laura, along with Gray and his wife, Sheila, told The Enterprise they began to see and smell the alterations in their well water toward the end of May, characterizing it as having a “sour” and “nasty” odor, being discolored, with unusual taste. Those issues persisted for several weeks.

The New Scotland Road residents suspected their water-quality issues were connected to whatever was being spread by the Tommells, once in April and again in July, and who use the field to plant corn for their cattle. 

Like many of their neighbors, the Dunhams and Grays expressed frustration and concern over the situation, with Ryan Dunham stating that, with PFAS now found in the blood of 97 percent of Americans, it’s time New York State took cue from their northeastern neighbors Maine and Connecticut and banned use of biosolids as fertilizer.