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Free Well Water Testing Samplers from Orange County

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Paul Bellotto, Public Health Engineer – Orange County Department of Health

Do you have a private well that was subject to the flooding from the recent storm event in the Highlands / Ft. Montgomery area? If so, the OCDOH will be distributing a 2nd round of sample bottles, in case you missed the first, for free bacteria testing of your private well water.

This free water test only applies to private wells that were subject to flooding during the storm. If you pay a water bill, or if you are on municipal water, your municipality is performing its own sampling to ensure public safety.

To get this free water sampling:

Location: American Legion Hall
134 Old State Road
Highland Falls, NY 10928

Date: Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Time (Pick up): 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Residents will have until 3:00 pm to return the filled bottles to the American Legion Hall for testing.

We would expect to get word out to residents of these results within about a week of testing.

If you are concerned about the quality of your drinking water, our office strongly suggests you follow Boil Water guidelines while you await results.

For more information about drinking the water, cooking, brushing your teeth, etc., read this FAQ, or call the Orange County Department of Environmental Health at 845-291-2331.

Resource: Disinfecting Well Water

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From Highland Falls Village Trustee Melanie Guerrero

Test results for the Well water did not pass. You can decontaminate your well water by following this method (from Orange County website):

You can get bleach from the Shelter at Sacred Heart. There will be more well water testing kits available at the American legion on July 19, Wednesday but you can preemptively treat your well water if you want.

NYSDOH well disinfection procedure: 

https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/well_disinfect.htm

Video for well disinfection: 

CDC guidelines for well disinfection after an emergency:

https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/wellsdisinfect.html

Incident Commander Report – Monday 7/17/23

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1. For families, homeowners, businesses needing financial assistance with storm damage costs please sign up at the BIll Larkin Task Force form here. This is a charitable organization created by Assemblyman Maher, and they will help leverage vendors to get tax breaks/write offs on the cost of rebuilding as well as provide financial help. They will also have staff help Seniors fill out the application online, the date of when the staffers will arrive will be posted soon.

BILL LARKIN TASK FORCE – FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR STORM DAMAGE

2. Please call (844) 965-1386 (Crisis Cleanup Hotline) or register on https://bit.ly/OCResidentDamageAssistance or call 311 or 211 if you need help with clean up. They will coordinate with Team Rubicon (veteran based clean up group) and Samaritan’s Purse (non-denominational Church based clean up group) to put you on the list for help with muck outs, chainsaw operations, mold remediation, debris removal. Samaritan’s Purse has been here for two days and camped at Municipal parking lot 2, and Team Rubicon have teams that are driving around putting people on the list as well.

ORANGE COUNTY – STORM DAMAGE ASSISTANCE

3. We cannot stress enough that if you have damage to your home please sign up online to report it. Form link is here.

Or use this link from Senator Skoufis’ office: https://highlandfallsny.com/fema-damage/

The county, state, FEMA need this information for us to meet a certain threshold to get funding. An example of significant damage would be if your electrical panel is damaged. Structural damages are very important to report.

ORANGE COUNTY – STORM DAMAGE SURVEY

4. Five garbage trucks will be going around today to pick up debris/trash. We are trying to get more for the next few days but laborers are needed. We are trying to organize from other volunteer groups to see if we can get help with loading trash in the trucks.

5. Test results for the Well water did not pass. You can decontaminate your well water by following this method (from Orange County website):

ORANGE COUNTY GOVERNMENT – HOW TO DECONTAMINATE YOUR WELL

We will try to get you a YouTube link as well. You can get bleach from the Shelter at Sacred Heart. There will be more well water testing kits available at the American legion on July 19, Wednesday but you can preemptively treat your well water if you want.

6. Popolopen bridge is still closed. From Highland Falls and Ft. Montgomery you would still have to go through 9W to 293 to Route 6 to get to the Palisades. But the good news is that Route 6 is now open in both directions between state route 293 and the Long Mountain Circle. continue to expect delays because of lane reduction in the Palisades. The Bear Mountain bridge has been open since last Saturday.

9W between Stoney Lonesome and O’Neil HS is still closed because of a drainage issue. It is planned to open in the next couple of days, we will keep you posted.

218 and Old State Rd are still closed. As a reminder, please do not go through construction zones. It is dangerous and you could be arrested for trespassing.

7. ADA toilet trailers and portable AC units will be up and running at the Sacred heart Shelter by today.

8. Estimates from both town and village engineers regarding municipal damages has been received by the Public assistance office and we are waiting for FEMA to arrive to assess damages. We still have not gotten funding but we have to follow the process and certain damage thresholds have to be met for them to give us funds.

Traffic Update: Route 6 Now Open

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A message from Assemblyperson Chistopher W. Eachus

The DOT just informed my office that U.S. Route 6 is now open in both directions between State Route 293 and the Long Mountain Circle. You can also access all northern sections of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, but please note that there are reduced lanes in each direction from the Bear Mountain Bridge to points south in Rockland County.

The DOT also informed us that all connections along these roadways, including the Long Mountain Circle and the Bear Mountain Circle, are open as well. Also, in case you were not aware, the New York State Bridge Authority have reopened the Bear Mountain Bridge to all traffic as of last Saturday.

However, we want to remind all motorists that while these corridors are accessible, there is still significant storm damage that requires repair work. Temporary lane and/or shoulder closures may be in place, so it’s crucial for everyone to slow down and drive responsibly in work zones.

For the latest travel information, feel free to call 511, visit www.511NY.org, or download the free 511NY mobile app.