EPA Reports on water, sediment in Kinderhook Lake

KINDERHOOK–In response to requests from the public made during a meeting about the Dewey Loeffel Superfund site in March 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tested samples of surface water and sediment derived from 10 sites on May 19 and May 20, 2014 and has just issued its report of the results.

The Dewey Loeffel Superfund site is located near the Town of Nassau in Rensselaer County. In the early 1950s to the late 1960s, the site was a dumping ground for 46,000 tons of toxic waste, including industrial solvents, waste oils, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), scrap materials, sludge and solids. After being declared a federal Superfund Site in 2011, a water treatment plant was built by some of the companies responsible for dumping and overseen by the EPA. Treated water from the plant has been released in the Valatie Kill, which flows in Kinderhook Lake, since last year. Treated water at the plant is tested.

Residents at the meeting in 2014, where representatives from the EPA explained the plan to release the water from the Dewey Loeffel treatment plant into the Valatie Kill, requested testing be done on Kinderhook Lake so they would have a baseline before more treated water is discharged.

Two of the sampling sites were in Kinderhook Lake (one, off West Shore Drive and, the other, off East Shore Drive). A third sample was taken in the Valatie Kill just upstream from its entry into the Lake.

While the report concluded that contamination from the Dewey Loeffel site does not appear to have affected the lake, it did identify the presence of several contaminants, although at concentrations below the levels considered harmful to humans or fish.

Some PCB concentrations were found in the sediment of the Valatie Kill, though not in the samples taken from the lake. The highest concentration was 49 ug/kg (micrograms per kilogram of sediment), whereas levels up to 100 ug/kg are considered acceptable for human activity without any restrictions.

In one of the lake samples, pesticides (DDD, DDE and DDT) were found, likely as the result of past and present agricultural uses in the vicinity, again at levels not considered a risk. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found in both lake site samples, at acceptable levels. The PAHs are likely to be due to recreational activities like boating.

The EPA will continue to sample surface waters and sediment. In addition, Ed Simonsen, chair of the county’s Environmental Management Council, has formed a task force to monitor the discharges from Dewey Loeffel treatment facility and the water and sediment quality in Kinderhook Lake and the Valatie Kill.

Representatives of the Villages of Valatie and Chatham and the Towns of Kinderhook and Stuyvesant, the Department of Health, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Kinderhook Lake Corporation and Roxbury Farm all participate on the task force.

The EPA’s report is available at www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/dewey/docs.html. The standards applicable to sediment can be found at www.dec.ny.gov/regs/15507.html. Those applicable to surface water quality can be found at www.dec.ny.gov/regs/4590.html.

14-year-old charged with making terroristic threat

In Blotter - Columbia, The Columbia Paper

May 9, 2024

By DIANE VALDEN and DOUG LAROCQUE

NEW LEBANON—The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office has made an arrest in connection with its investigation into a terroristic threat made to the New Lebanon Central School District.

The Sheriff’s Office received a report from the New Lebanon School District that a threat had been received via email to the school district in general as well as to a student within the district, Tuesday, April 23 at 8:13 a.m., according to press release from Sheriff Donald J. Krapf.

Sheriff’s patrols were immediately dispatched and responded to the district to ensure the safety of the students, staff and the school. The district has two schools (the elementary and high schools), and both were immediately placed in lockout protocol.

Sheriff’s Office investigators were dispatched to the school district to continue the investigation. Investigators, in conjunction with the State Police Computer Crimes Unit, were able to identify the source of the email and determine that there was no credible threat to the school district or any student in it.

Multiple search warrants were executed during the investigation, and a 14-year-old juvenile has been arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat. If charged as an adult, this would constitute a class D Felony. At this time, it appears this juvenile acted alone.

“When it comes to investigations of this nature, my office is committed to ensuring the safety of all involved and conducting a thorough investigation. We will collaborate with local, state, and federal agencies as needed to ensure that we have the necessary resources to identify the source and gather the evidence required for a successful prosecution. No one should feel afraid to attend school or work, or worry about the safety of their children,” Sheriff Krapf said in the release.

District Superintendent Andrew Kourt told The Columbia Paper, he immediately ordered a lockout at both the Jr./Sr. High School and the Elementary School as well as notifying law enforcement. A lockout means students, parents or community members were not allowed to leave or enter the district buildings without permission from police or the district office.

Throughout the day, the superintendent sent out multiple emails to parents and the community updating the situation. A heavy police presence was noticeable throughout the school day and all after-school activities were canceled, except the school board meeting, which had to take place to meet state-imposed budget deadlines. A deputy was in attendance at that meeting. The lockout was lifted that evening and school resumed business as normal the next day.

To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com

Fire consumes barn in Hillsdale
Multiple agencies were summoned to a blaze of an undetermined origin which destroyed a sizable barn at the Bradway property, 164 Whippoorwill Road, Hillsdale, April 27. Columbia 911 dispatched Hillsdale firefighters along with the Community Rescue Squad at 11:47 a.m. Craryville, Copake, Ancram, Egremont and Taghkanic firefighters responded to provide mutual aid while Millerton and Austerlitz fire companies stood by. State Police and Columbia County Fire Coordinators assisted on the scene. NYSEG was called in to cut the power. Hillsdale Fire Chief Joshua Stalker said the cause of the fire is unknown. No animals or people were injured, but most of what was in the barns was not salvageable. The Facebook page says that the Hillsdale Fire Company thanks all the responding companies and personnel for their mutual aid. Firefighters were back in service at 6:35 p.m. that day. Photo courtesy of the Hillsdale Fire Company Facebook Page

District attorney establishes conviction integrity unit

HUDSON—Area defendants who believe they were wrongfully convicted have an opportunity to seek review of their convictions through the establishment of a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) within the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.

“We are here to seek justice in all cases. A wrongful conviction means not only that a person must be exonerated, but that we must identify and prosecute the true culprit and attain real justice for crime victims,” District Attorney Chris Liberati-Conant said in a press release.

The National Registry of Exonerations website shows 14 of New York’s 62 counties have established Conviction Integrity Units as of November 2023. Ten of them have recorded exonerations and they include: Bronx, Erie, Kings, Nassau, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, and Westchester. Four counties have established CIU’s but have no recorded exonerations. These include: Monroe, Oneida, Orange and Ulster. The state’s attorney and the United States attorney’s offices in New York also maintain Conviction Integrity Units.

In order to be considered by the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office for review, anyone—either the defendant or a family member—can complete a one-page form found on the website: www.columbiacountyny.com/da under the heading Conviction Integrity. The form must be returned via a dedicated email address.

The information provided will then be reviewed by the Conviction Integrity Unit. If it’s found there’s no reason to question the court’s ruling a letter will be sent advising the defendant of this. Where the investigation reveals infirmity in the conviction, the officer will produce a report and take appropriate action in court after consultation with any victims.

The national registry shows that 3,509 exonerations have taken place since 1989, according to the website’s homepage. These include cases in which DNA played a limited or no role in the exoneration. It shows 153 exonerations occurred in 32 states, according to its 2023 Annual Report. New York ranked third last year with 21 exonerations, preceded by Illinois with 24 and Texas with 22. Of New York’s 21 exonerations, 15 are from the five boroughs of New York City.

In January, Renay Lynch of Western New York became the 250th person freed through the work of the Innocence Project. She was exonerated nearly 26 years after being wrongly convicted for the 1995 murder and robbery of her landlord in Amherst, according to the release.

“Even in the absence of wrongdoing, innocent people can be convicted of crimes they did not commit. As prosecutors, it is our moral, ethical, and legal obligation to correct any such errors,” DA Liberati-Conant explained in the release.

EPA Reports on water, sediment in Kinderhook Lake

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