SCHUMER LAUNCHES MAJOR PUSH FOR UP TO $20 MILLION TO SECURE FORT DRUM’S WATER SUPPLY AND IMPROVE WATERTOWN’S WATER QUALITY; SENATOR SAYS VITAL DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE $$$ CAN HELP WATERTOWN UPGRADE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE ENSURING CLEAN WATER FOR NORTH COUNTRY COMMUNITIES
Watertown Provides Critical Water & Sewer Services To Fort Drum And Surrounding Community, But City Needs Fed $$$ To Help Update Aging Infrastructure To Improve Drinking Water Quality To Meet EPA Standards ASAP
Schumer Personally Wrote DoD Secretary Austin In Support Of Watertown’s Application, Saying Watertown Is A Vital Defense Community And That These Much-Needed Improvements Are Critical To Protecting Clean Water Access For Nearly 65,000 Residents, Including Fort Drum
Schumer To DoD: It Is Time For Fed $$ To Start Flowing To Help Watertown Improve Water Infrastructure To Ensure Health, Safety & Resiliency Of Fort Drum & Watertown Community
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer launched a major new push to deliver $20 million to the City of Watertown through the Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Communities Infrastructure Pilot (DCIP) program to modernize the city’s water infrastructure, which supplies water and sewer services to nearly 65,000 individuals spanning Fort Drum, the City of Watertown, and the towns of Pamelia, LeRay, and Champion.
Schumer explained that in 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the Watertown public water system under an Administrative Order for failure to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act’s Stage II Disinfection Byproduct limits. Despite multiple modifications and optimizations meant to reduce contaminant levels in the years since, the Watertown public water system has continued to exceed acceptable levels for certain contaminants, and the city needs additional support to upgrade its infrastructure to meet water safety standards.
In a personal letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, Schumer urged the DoD to fully support and prioritize Watertown’s up to $20 million request, which would help bring the city in compliance with EPA standards by funding the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) project, thereby strengthening the health and resiliency of Fort Drum personnel, their families, and the surrounding Watertown community.
“The City of Watertown’s Water Treatment Plant, which Fort Drum relies upon for a significant portion of its water supply, needs critical upgrades to provide safe and clean drinking water to the soldiers, military families and North Country communities. Consistent reliable access to safe and clean drinking water is a critical component of Fort Drum’s mission readiness, and the health of communities from Watertwon to Champion that support their operations,” said Senator Schumer. “That is why I personally wrote Secretary Austin to strongly urge support for Watertown’s project as a defense community so we can get federal dollars flowing to improve water quality ASAP.”
“I cannot overstate the importance of the City of Watertown’s longstanding partnership with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum,” said City of Watertown Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith. “This Water Quality Improvement Project is yet another example of the City’s commitment to providing clean and safe drinking water to the men and women of the 10th Mountain Division and their families, who live both on post and in our community. I would like to thank Senator Schumer for his unwavering support of this project, and his understanding of how critical it is to the readiness, strength and longevity of Fort Drum, as well as to the quality of life of soldiers and their families.”
“The Fort Drum military installation is fundamentally intertwined with Jefferson County, and the County’s support for the brave men and women who serve at Fort Drum is unwavering. As one of just two sources feeding Fort Drum’s water supply, the Watertown Water Treatment Plant supplies drinking water to over 40,000 soldiers, civilians, and their families. Until the Watertown Water Treatment Plant receives the critical upgrades necessary to comply with EPA regulations, the security of Fort Drum’s water supply will remain in jeopardy,” said Jefferson County Board of Legislators Chairman William W. Johnson. “In addition to serving those at Fort Drum, the Water Treatment Plant supplies drinking water to nearly 25,000 residents of the City of Watertown and neighboring townships. On behalf of us all in Jefferson County, I would like to extend our most sincere appreciation to Senator Schumer for his tireless efforts to secure the future of our community’s water supply.”
According to Schumer, the Fort Drum water supply is drawn from two sources – the Watertown WTP and groundwater wells located near Wheeler-Sack Airfield. Unfortunately, Fort Drum’s groundwater wells are not always operational. In such cases, Fort Drum’s water supply consists entirely of WTP water. Even when its groundwater wells are operational, Schumer said that Fort Drum relies on Watertown’s WTP for more than 800,000 gallons of treated water per day – a major part of its drinking water supply. but in However, in recent years, the WTP has consistently exceeded the maximum allowable disinfectant byproduct contaminant levels as laid out under the Safe Drinking Water Act Stage II Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule. Schumer said that the City of Watertown recently completed a pilot program required by the New York State Department of Health to identify solutions to fix the contaminated water supply. The pilot concluded that the best solution is the multi-pronged approach proposed in the City of Watertown’s $50 million WTP project, consisting of improved coagulation and sedimentation, ozone oxidation treatment, and granular activated carbon filtration. The DCIP funding it fully funded from the DoD would help pay for secure, safe, and clean drinking water for the 40,000+ service members, families, and civilian personnel who rely on Fort Drum’s water system every day, as well as surrounding communities in the City of Watertown, and the towns of Pamelia, LeRay, and Champion.
Watertown is currently under an EPA Administrative Order for noncompliance with Safe Drinking Water Act standards, leaving the thousands who rely on it, including the vital military base, susceptible to contaminated water and subsequent illness. According to Fort Drum Garrison Commander Col. James J. Zacchnio Jr., Fort Drum will continue to struggle providing clean water to soldiers, families, and civilians without this project. Schumer made it clear that this requested DoD funding for the Watertown WTP project is essential to both securing the future of Fort Drum’s drinking water supply and helping the city provide safe and clean drinking water to all residents.
Schumer has a long history of fighting to deliver funding to Fort Drum and Watertown to improve water quality. Last year, Schumer secured $27 million in the omnibus-spending package for Fiscal Year 2022 to fortify the water supply at Fort Drum.
A copy of Schumer’s letter to Secretary Austin appears below:
Dear Secretary Austin:
I am pleased to write to you in support of the application submitted by the City of Watertown to the Department of Defense’s Defense Communities Infrastructure Pilot (“DCIP”) program. Watertown is seeking funding for improvements to its Water Treatment Plant (“WTP”), which Fort Drum relies upon for a significant portion of its water supply.
In 2017, the Watertown WTP was placed under administrative order for exceeding the maximum allowable disinfectant byproduct contaminant levels under the Safe Drinking Water Act Stage II Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule. In response to the EPA order, Fort Drum decreased the ratio of water purchased from Watertown in their supply blend to reduce disinfectant byproduct concentrations and remain in compliance with the EPA regulations. In the years since, Watertown has made operational modifications and optimizations meant to reduce byproduct contaminants, but unfortunately the WTP continues to exceed permissible levels. Recently, Watertown completed a New York State funded pilot program that concluded the best corrective action to be eliminating contaminants prior to filtration. To bring the WTP in compliance with EPA regulations, Watertown is proposing a multi-prong solution, involving: (i) improved coagulation and sedimentation to reduce organic contaminants in bulk, (ii) Ozone oxidation treatment to alter the organic molecular structure; and (iii) granular activated carbon filtration to absorb any remaining compounds.
Fort Drum’s drinking water system supplies ~40,000 people with water, including 15,000 service members, 15,000 family members, and 3,700 civilian personnel. The Fort Drum water supply is drawn from two sources – the Watertown WTP and groundwater wells located near Wheeler-Sack Airfield. The Watertown WTP provides Fort Drum with more than 800,000 gallons of treated water per day. Although groundwater wells typically provide the remainder, Fort Drum’s wells are not always operational and the number of wells in service has fluctuated significantly over the past two decades. Groundwater wells in the area are known to suffer from inadequate recharge during times of drought, and a decrease in recharge may cause an increase in groundwater well contaminant concentrations, forcing wells offline. Historically, Fort Drum had twelve groundwater wells in service but, presently, only seven are operational.
It goes without saying that access to safe and clean drinking water is a critical component of Fort Drum’s current and future mission readiness, impacting everything from operational readiness to force mobilization to joint warfighting. Even when Fort Drum’s groundwater wells are operational, the Watertown WTP is undeniably an essential part of Fort Drum’s drinking water supply and a vital redundancy safeguarding the installation. In cases where Fort Drum’s groundwater wells are out of service, the Watertown WTP immediately becomes indispensable. It is deeply concerning that Fort Drum’s water supply is vulnerable to the point that, should its groundwater wells be forced offline, the entire remaining water supply would consist of contaminated water. This is even more concerning considering that chronic or unusually high levels of exposure to disinfectant byproduct contaminants like those at issue here may increase the risk of some cancers, liver damage, and decreased nervous system activity.
I applaud the City of Watertown for their proactiveness in submitting this proposal. According to Fort Drum Garrison Commander Col. James J. Zacchnio Jr., Fort Drum will continue to struggle providing clean water to soldiers, families, and civilians without this project. In addition to the many reasons listed above, Commander Col. Zacchnio’s call for help boldly underscores the importance of this project to the United States Army, as well as the soldiers, family members and civilians stationed at Fort Drum. I firmly believe that funding the Watertown WTP project is essential to securing the future of Fort Drum’s drinking water supply, and I strongly urge you to fund this project. Thank you for your consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my Grants Coordinator in my Washington, DC office at Washington, DC office at 202-224-6542.
Sincerely,
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