After 45 days without potable running water, Boiceville customers of Hudson Valley Water Company had their service restored Tuesday.
The Ulster County Department of Health lifted a “do not drink” order for nearly 75 Boiceville residents who had been without water due to arsenic contamination. For nearly two months, county and state officials argued over how to resolve what had become a recurring issue for the nearly 30 households serviced by Hudson Valley Water Company. Complaints about the company, which serves about 435 customers in Ulster and surrounding counties, date to 2021.
Boiceville residents said they have endured at least a half-dozen “do not drink” orders and more than 100 days without running water in the past four years. The company has also faced contamination and shutdowns in Hurley, Rosendale, and Saugerties.
The New York State Department of Public Service opened an investigation into the water supplier in February 2024. That review is ongoing. Officials have said they have been unable to find another water provider to serve the Boiceville neighborhood.
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha this week joined a growing chorus condemning Hudson Valley Water Company and criticized the Department of Public Service for not acting with more urgency.
“Access to clean water is a fundamental right in New York, and any company that can’t provide it shouldn’t be in the business of supplying water to New Yorkers,” Hinchey said in a statement. “Hudson Valley Water Company’s abysmal service has once again left our residents without safe water, which is unconscionable.”
Shrestha directed her criticism at the DPS.
“The failings of a private company cannot be the reason our constituents don’t have reliable and safe access to water,” she said. “The obvious long-term solution is that we should be able to buy out this company and run it as a public service and put it in the hands of competent people who’re not driven by profits.”
Hinchey sponsored a 2023 bill that would create a state water authority empowered and funded to purchase water companies that can no longer provide reliable and safe service. The bill remains in the Senate Finance Committee.
Thomas Congdon, the DPS’ executive deputy, said he understood the frustration of residents and elected officials but insisted the agency was doing all it could.
“I don’t blame anyone for trying to raise awareness on this issue,” Congdon said in an interview. “But we have to make sure due process is provided. I know that is hard to hear going on day 45 of a no-drink order.”
Congdon said he did not have a timeline for when the investigation into Hudson Valley Water Company would be completed.
“We are an agency that is regulating everything from Con Edison, which has millions of customers, to Hudson Valley Water Company, with 30 customers,” he said. “[The investigation] is not getting backburner treatment just because it is small.”
Jeffrey Fuller, owner of Hudson Valley Water Company, did not respond to requests for comment.
Boiceville resident Dan Zelikman said he was relieved to have water service restored but worried about what comes next.
“After 45 days without potable water, I’m relieved, and honestly, exhausted, to finally have this basic necessity back,” Zelikman said. “I’m grateful to everyone who supported us in our effort to get our water back. But relief isn’t enough. This cannot become our new normal. We need a real, long-term solution that finally ends the ongoing failures of Hudson Valley Water Company — a company that has proven itself both incompetent and unwilling to responsibly manage something this essential.”
Jim Rich is a senior reporter for The Overlook. You can reach him at jim@theoverlooknews.com.
