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Bethlehem Town board members starts talking about runoff as a contributing factor to last fall’s foul smelling municipal water
By MEREDITH SAVITT, JOHN McINTYRE & MICHAEL HALLISEY
DELMAR—A benign discussion about funding improvements to the New Salem Water Treatment Plant at the Bethlehem Town Board meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12, unexpectedly turned into a debate over the cause of the foul-smelling water residents experienced last fall.
The town has attributed the odor to decaying algae from a late-season bloom in the Vly Creek Reservoir, which officials link to climate change. However, during the meeting, Town Board member Maureen Cunningham suggested that runoff and chemicals could also be contributing factors.
“I know we’re pointing to climate change as the reason for the increased algal blooms, but related to that is also the use of pesticides and things we put on the land,” Cunningham said. “As soon as the grass starts coming up … [what] we’re putting into our yards, into the ground, into the earth, eventually ends up in a water body.
“It’s not just climate change,” she added. “It’s also the increased nitrogen loading that’s going into our water bodies from chemicals.”
Town Public Works Commissioner Paul Penman agreed, noting that the algae bloom resulted from “all the nutrient loading that’s entering the reservoir from pesticides and other contaminants.”
Board member David DeCancio questioned this explanation, asking, “You initially said climate change was the cause, but what is the actual source?”
Penman elaborated that nutrient buildup in the water leads to algal blooms. “Much of it comes from runoff into the reservoir,” he explained. He reiterated that climate change contributed to the issue by creating warmer temperatures and lower rainfall later in the season than usual.
“This is the first time I’ve heard that nutrient and nitrogen levels in the soil are the main cause,” DeCancio responded.
Cunningham added that a healthy, unimpaired water body would likely be more resilient to warming temperatures, even if affected by runoff.
“But it seems that it was impaired,” DeCancio countered.
Penman said that the town addresses algae blooms by treating the reservoir with copper sulfate. “We had unusual conditions where we weren’t treating the water, which led to the blooms,” he said. “That’s why we attribute this to climate change—the unusually warm late-season temperatures and drought conditions.”
Data and subsequent support from at least one leading expert have not suggested any other cause.
William Becker, a water expert from the town’s consulting firm Hazen & Sawyer, explained in January that algal blooms like the one from last fall are increasingly common nationwide due to climate change.
“If you Google this, you will get pages and pages of complaints all over the country,” he said.
Becker described how last summer’s drought, combined with warm weather and heavy rainfall, affected nutrient levels in the water, leading to algal blooms. He confirmed that the earthy/musty smell originates from geosmin, a compound released by algae. Although geosmin is harmless, it produces a strong odor detectable at levels as low as 5 parts per trillion.
When the issue was first brought to the town’s attention, officials consulted the Albany County Department of Health. After conducting water quality tests, the department determined there was no harmful algal bloom. It also stated how the town was “in full compliance with the New York State Sanitary Code” and that its water was safe to drink.
Maxwell Ferris, director of the Division of Environmental Health at the Albany County Department of Health, reported that water samples from the New Salem South Road Treatment Plant were analyzed at the state’s Wadsworth Lab for algae presence and microcystins, a type of toxin produced by harmful algal blooms.
“Based on the levels found in both samples, the lab did not identify any indication of algal blooms being a significant cause of the taste and smell issues reported in the community,” he stated.
The Spotlight previously requested an interview with Ferris but was told to submit written questions instead. The health department later reaffirmed that the water remains “safe for consumption and other uses.”
When asked what might be causing the odor if algae was not responsible, Ferris explained that the “earthy” or “musty” smell reported by residents is often linked to geosmin or methylisoborneol, rather than harmful algal blooms. While these compounds can sometimes be associated with algae entering the treatment plant, microscopic analysis of the collected samples did not indicate a significant presence of harmful algal blooms contributing to the issue.
Ferris did not provide an alternative explanation for the source of the odor.
The lab reports
In January, The Spotlight requested a copy of the lab report through a Freedom of Information Law request. In February, the state Department of Health responded that no documents would be available until May.
The Spotlight provided DeCancio with a copy of the Albany County Health Department’s October 17 letter “Well Contamination from Biosolids Residual Spreading Activities,” referred to in this week’s front page feature on New Scotland well contamination. According to the report made to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the County tested 10 residential wells in the Town of New Scotland, which are located within a mile, and approximately 380 feet above the valley in which the Vly Creek Reservoir sits, and concluded that six wells had been contaminated with E. coli and coliform.
After reviewing the October 17 letter, DeCancio commented, “I am concerned by this new information and its potential connection to the challenges we are facing with water from the Vly Creek Reservoir.” DeCancio said, “I want to know when the town learned about the biosolids being applied so close to our reservoir, and when the town was first alerted about the wells testing positive for E. coli.”
In an interview with The Spotlight, Cunningham said she had no knowledge of the biosolid issue when she spoke at the town board meeting. She said her comment flowed from the confluence of several factors, including the town’s ongoing focus on water since October 2024, her environmental work that prompted a general concern about yard pesticides’ impact on water sources, and town resident Steven Peterson’s question raised during a public comment period why other nearby towns had not had the water odor problem.
“We absolutely were not notified [of the biosolid issue],” Cunningham said. She said the first she heard of it was after [a Spotlight reporter] left Town of Bethlehem Supervisor David VanLuven’s office on February 14 and provided VanLuven with a copy of the October 17 letter. “To my knowledge, no town officials were aware,” Cunningham said.
She said she was not even made aware of Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy’s press conference announcing a 90-day moratorium late last month on biosolid use in all agricultural practices within the county. At the press conference, McCoy was attended by New Scotland Town Supervisor Doug LaGrange and County Legislative Chair Joanne Cunningham, who is the town board member’s sister.
Cunningham said the county “should have told us. I can’t comment on why they might not have.” However, she said she will seek more information about the biosolids’ composition and continue to look at long-term protection solutions.
“Long-term doing nothing is not an option,” she said. “We need to be proactive to protect our water source, including looking at vegetation, land use and the things being put on top of the land.”
However, Cunningham said water issues are part of a larger problem because thousands of chemicals are being used in the United States. She said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency only regulates 90. “The town is holding up its end of the bargain. It comes down to the chemical companies and polluters who keep coming up with new chemicals and we can’t keep up with that,” Cunningham said. “We need to look at a better way of managing all those chemicals.”
This is the second of a multi-part series after a two-month Spotlight News investigation into drinking water contamination in the area. The next part will look into New Scotland Supervisor Doug LaGrange attempt to limit biosolids.
