• Note: This petition is only for residents and workers in Greater Woodstock, NY
  
  
• Whereas PFOS, a “forever chemical” of extreme toxicity and resistance to dissipation, has been contaminating Woodstock’s drinking water since 2022 (1) ,
  
  
• And whereas nothing prevents the Town government from taking proactive remediation measures to ensure public safety, even before the “Maximum Contamination Levels” set as “acceptable” by State or Federal agencies are reached (2) ,
  
  We, the citizens of Woodstock, call upon the Town Board of Woodstock to exercise its duty to protect our community by taking the following measures:
  
  1- Source tracing and identification: Retain a qualified professional Hydrologist or Hydrogeologist to conduct standard investigations to identify, regulate and remove sources of PFOS contamination.
  
  2- Communicate: Post a schedule of quarterly testing dates and results in an easy to find section on the Town of Woodstock Website, with regular updates on our water situation a fixed agenda item at Town Board meetings.
  
  3- Action plan: Develop and execute a comprehensive plan for remediation, funding for filtering and management of PFOS contamination. Establish long term monitoring programs to track trends in PFOS levels and assess the effectiveness of mitigation efforts.
  
  These actions can help to ensure a responsible and transparent approach to safeguarding public health and environmental quality.

(1) Devastating diseases from testicular, breast, kidney, ovarian and endometrial cancers, non-Hodgkins lymphoma and childhood leukemia to liver disease, hormonal disruptions, accelerated puberty and fetal and neo-natal developmental defects have been linked to PFOS exposure.

(2) The most recent level of PFOS contamination in Woodstock’s water supply hovered just below the most restrictive limit of 4 ppt (parts per trillion) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which concurrently stated that no amount of PFOS is safe.