Longtime Hempstead resident Mary Purdy credited with pushing local action after PFAS found in village water
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Rep. Gillen recounted how constituent Mary Florence Purdy organized residents after testing found high levels of carcinogenic PFAS in Hempstead's water; federal and state aid partly funded a replacement system but total project costs remain far above initial grants.
Rep. Kathleen Rice Gillen told the subcommittee that Hempstead, New York, residents have confronted legacy contamination and aging infrastructure that required federal support to begin replacing an antiquated water system.
Gillen described Mary Florence Purdy, a lifelong Hempstead resident who gathered signatures and lobbied local officials after residents observed concerning water quality and an apparent rise in cancers. The congresswoman said local and county officials secured about $1,700,000 in federal aid and additional New York state funding toward a new treatment facility, but the project will cost up to about $55,000,000 to complete.
Witnesses at the hearing noted that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $11,700,000,000 for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund nationally, including about $1,000,000,000 targeted to emerging contaminants such as PFAS; however, they said that funding does not fully close local gaps. In Hempstead, Gillen said, the need remains large and additional federal resources are required to fully replace and protect drinking water supplies.
The congresswoman entered a May 2024 article about Hempstead’s water testing into the hearing record and asked agency witnesses for further guidance on how to secure sufficient funding for the larger project.