Letter: County Health Officials Cover For Sunshine Home

To the Editor:

Why does the Westchester County Department of Health (WCDOH) continue to provide cover for Sunshine Children’s Home to serve radium-contaminated drinking water to its patients, staff, and visitors? Radium is a carcinogen. The EPA’s goal for radium in drinking water is zero picocuries per liter (pCi/L), and the maximum contaminant limit is 5.0 pCi/L.

In 2016-2017, levels of radium in the Sunshine Home drinking water were consistently near zero because Sunshine disconnected its highly contaminated Well #3 from its water supply after receiving a notice of violation from WCDOH. Test results dated November 8, 2017 showed zero pCi/L radium in the hospital’s water. After re-activating Well #3 in late November, test results dated November 30, 2017 showed that radium levels had shot up to 6.26 pCi/L. The New Castle Town Board, rightfully concerned about the Sunshine Home’s decision to re-activate Well #3, wrote a letter to WCDOH asking for answers about radium levels at the Sunshine Home.

Like the Town Board, the Greater Teatown Defense Alliance believes there is no margin for error when it comes to the safety of drinking water in our community. For that reason, it is deeply troubling that WCDOH would tell the Town Board that Sunshine Home can “consistently and reliably provide water that complies with radium quality requirements to its customers” based on flow controls that limit the amount of water used from Well #3. Test data shows otherwise. Water quality test results from February 14, 2018 (taken after the flow controls were installed) show water with radium detected at 6.5 pCi/L, above the EPA maximum limit of 5.0 pCi/L, continued to flow from the faucets inside the Sunshine Home.

The WCDOH letter does not provide all relevant data, does not identify the February 14 excess radium test results as problematic, or explain how WCDOH will ensure that levels are safely below 5.0 pCi/L.

The flow controls are not the solution. The Sunshine Home should not be using its radium-contaminated Well #3 until proper treatment has been installed, and the WCDOH owes the Town Board complete and transparent answers about what the data show and what will be done to prevent needless exposure to carcinogens in the Sunshine Home’s drinking water.

Sincerely,

Karen Wells

Greater Teatown Defense Alliance