Residents of a small water district in Brewster, New York, are about to pay for a problem decades in the making. The Starr Ridge Water District, a community water system in Putnam County's Town of Southeast, is moving forward with construction of a treatment plant to remove PFAS compounds from its drinking water supply.
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of roughly 15,000 synthetic chemicals used since the 1940s in products ranging from firefighting foam to nonstick cookware. They don't break down in the environment or the human body, and have been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, immune suppression, and developmental problems in children. The name "forever chemicals" has stuck.
The pressure on Starr Ridge is coming from two directions. New York State set enforceable limits of 10 parts per trillion for the two most common PFAS compounds, PFOA and PFOS, in 2020, partly amid the Hoosick Falls contamination scandal that became a national story. Then in April 2024, the EPA finalized even stricter federal limits of 4 parts per trillion, with a hard compliance deadline of 2029. Every public water system in the country is now on the clock.
For a small residential district like Starr Ridge, the financial math is uncomfortable. Capital costs for PFAS treatment systems at small utilities typically run between $1 million and $10 million, depending on the technology and scale, plus ongoing operating costs for media replacement. With a limited ratepayer base, those expenses get spread across relatively few households. EPA has specifically flagged small systems, those serving under 10,000 people, as the most financially stressed group facing PFAS compliance.
The Town of Southeast has posted a bid solicitation for the treatment plant project. The specific treatment technology, total project cost and funding sources have not been publicly detailed. Partial relief could come from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which set aside $10 billion specifically for PFAS remediation in drinking water, distributed through state revolving funds. Settlements with manufacturers including 3M ($10.3 billion) and DuPont are also expected to partially reimburse water districts for treatment costs nationwide.
Starr Ridge sits within the broader New York City watershed, a designation that makes water quality in Putnam County especially sensitive politically. The town has previously sought state Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grants for water projects and has limited in-house engineering capacity, making outside contractors essential to meeting the 2029 deadline. Initial monitoring must be complete by 2027, leaving little margin.
