EPA Says Tarrytown Must Take Action for Lead in Water

TARRYTOWN, NY — The Village of Tarrytown has been ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act’s Lead and Copper Rule.

The EPA recently revealed that Tarrytown had violated numerous provisions of the rule, including a failure to properly evaluate the village’s water distribution system before establishing tap sampling locations and to meet requirements for properly identifying tap monitoring locations.

The agency issued a legal order that requires the village to send consumer notices and conduct public education activities for the individuals and organizations that the village’s water supply.

The EPA conducted an audit at Tarrytown Water Supply’s office in April 2016 to review Lead and Copper Rule data and did a site visit of treatment facilities used by Tarrytown.

The village was inspected because recent sampling results by the village showed excessive lead in four out of 31 samples.

Tarrytown has 15 days to send results to homeowners whose taps were sampled for lead and copper from 2013 to 2015.

The notices will include sample testing results, an explanation of the health effects of lead, steps consumers can take to reduce lead exposure, contact information for the water utility and information about the maximum contaminant level.

“Providing clean drinking water is one of the most important functions of government,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “It is essential that the Village of Tarrytown fully comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act so the health of residents is protected.”

The Safe Drinking Water Act’s Lead and Copper Rule requires Public Water Systems to sample drinking water in a representative selection of taps in their distribution system to determine if their water exceeds the EPA’s action level of 15 parts per billion for lead. If water systems exceed this action level, various follow-up actions need to be taken, such as public education, corrosion control treatment and replacement of lead service lines. The failure to take such follow-up actions results in violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act.