Arsenic and Old Pipe: Government Going After Hudson Valley Water Co. - by Steve Ellman/Kingston Wire
Years of complaints from local homeowners about household water quality may have moved a step closer to resolution now that a coalition of elected officials led by Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger and including Hurley Town Supervisor Mike Boms has asked the state Public Service Commission to revoke and transfer the franchise of Long Island-based Hudson Valley Water Company, which services 430 households in Mount Marion, High Falls, Pine Lane in Hurley, West Hurley and Boiceville.
The arsenic might have been the last straw.
The matter has festered since at least 2019, when then-assemblymember Kevin Cahill sent the PSC letters from 55 West Hurley residents complaining of years of problems with HVWC: “Irregular water pressure, cloudy water, and lengthy water service interruptions with no prior communication from the Company's operator ... inconsistent and inadequate notice relating to boil-water advisories, as well as questions relating to the types, quantities and use of chemicals such as zinc orthophosphate and phosphoric acid in the water system.”
HVWC's owner, Jeffrey Fuller, responded with a letter of point-by-point rebuttal and stated, as summarized by PSC staff, “the complaints do not present the true picture of the company or the service provided” and contain “numerous misstatements, misconceptions and a lack of understanding of the true facts.”
Fuller did concede a point about customer service, though mixed with a dash of paranoia, writing:
“We make every effort to return all calls as soon as is possible if no one is in the office at the time of a customer call and then to resolve any issue in an accurate and reasonable manner. All questions are answered as best as possible. There are times, however, when the customer does not agree with the answer and some get antagonistic. Unfortunately this has caused us to then behave the same way and that should not happen. As to the form letters, there were many from customers that we had never even spoken to, so this seems suspicious.”
HVWC has failed to respond to Kingston Wire's request for comment.
The October 2020 PSC staff report that followed the Cahill letter found the company “in violation of numerous sections of the PSL, NYCRR, and its tariff and is not utilizing best practices.” It recommended that HVWC adopt 49 specific measures addressing virtually every one of the customers' complaints. In February 2021 the company responded with an implementation plan.
PSC dockets are unclear as to how much of the plan has actually been implemented. The company's March 2021 short-term capital investment plan and September 2021 long-term capital investment plan are riddled with caveats about insufficient funds.
In June 2022 the company applied to the PSC for a rate increase of almost 20 percent. Eleven months later — during which time local citizens, public officials, and the non-profit Public Utilities Law Project agitated — the commission allowed a rate increase one-tenth of the company's request.
Last December, the shit hit the fan. An arsenic removal system at HVWC's Boiceville facilities failed — months after the Ulster County Department of Health had asked the company to replace the system. On top of that, and in violation of its emergency plan, HVWC failed for a full week to provide potable drinking water by other means and left customers in the dark about the reason for its “Do Not Drink” order. It was a month before full normal service resumed.
The PSC rarely revokes the franchises of small, privately owned water systems, which are challenging to run at a profit. And state law provides financial incentives such as favorable rates and depreciation allowances for those who acquire such systems. Will the agency do so now? Here's what their media office told Kingston Wire:
“The Department has been actively investigating Hudson Valley Water’s unacceptable failures to provide basic service to its customers. We are urgently considering short-term actions to ensure customers are provided with safe drinking water, and in parallel we are evaluating options to address the company’s failures, including the options identified in the letter we received from the County Executive and other elected officials.”