Thursday April 18, 2024 
DOH confirms PFOS in Liberty Lane well
Not surprisingly, and based on the lengthy record of intentional neglect here by Poestenkill and the DEC and the cover-up by Poestenkill and the DEC of environmental crimes at the Poestenkill transfer station, a key component of the plan to make that area of Poestenkill in the triangle between Liberty Lane, Snyder’s Corners Road and Rt. 352 into a giant landfill to replace Colonie and Rensselaer, one could say according to plan to make those residential properties worthless by intentionally poisoning the water, as that land on the north side of Liberty Lane will be the south lip of the Regional landfill Poestenkill is to become, with a key access route for C&D waste across from Algonquin school through a key ten-acre parcel on the north side of Liberty Lane, further RCHD well tests have confirmed the presence of PFOS in the groundwater serving drinking water wells on Liberty Lane in Poestenkill, which wells have a hydraulic connection that points right back to the Poestenkill transfer station, as was proven in 1975 when a fuel oil spill at the end of Liberty Lane across from the Poestenkill transfer station contaminated those same wells with fuel oil.
And there is nobody in the Town of Poestenkill who should be surprised at any of this, given the number of times this information has been disclosed to the people of Poestenkill, giving them an opportunity to speak out against the plan when afforded the opportunity, as they were, and failing to do so, which is what happened, but for one man, having to forever after hold their peace and accept the fate they wrought for themselves, their neighbors, and their children by their silence, for as we have been told many times by a very prominent Poestenkill “land developer” and former Poestenkill planning board member, for there to be progress for some, others must be hurt, and the art is to be on the side of doing the hurting.
And so it came to pass that the drinking water serving Liberty Lane is now unfit to drink.
Paul Plante, Poestenkill
To the Editor:
Parents in the Averill Park School District need to be made aware that Averill Park School Board and executive administrators have no respect for the rank-and-file worker who provides vital services to students. Wages are so low in the Averill Park School District for non-instructional staff that transportation aides, cafeteria staff, mechanics, custodians, and bus drivers are leaving their jobs to work at other school districts that pay much higher wages. Doesn’t this put our children in jeopardy?
The School Board and administrators are claiming they cannot negotiate with us until January 2021. This just is not true. They had no problem with negotiating a new Management Confidential contract for themselves which included giving top administrators a 3.25% raise as well as a $1,000 retroactive bonus over three years. There is no reason a good-faith negotiation cannot be conducted now.
Most of the executive administrators are making six-figured salaries. The School Superintendent was just given a $25,000 increase to his current $177,000 salary with an increase to 25 vacation days. In contrast, the average non-instructional staff member makes less than $30,000 annually.
Our non-instructional staff are dedicated to protecting our students. Parents, please reach out to the School Board members and tell them to make these vital workers a priority NOW. Give them a living wage!
Keith Hammond, APSCD Bus Driver
Ditch Opinion Section in the Advertiser
When I think of the Advertiser, I think of local news. Why do I read the Advertiser? For local news. Therefore, I am always confused when I get to the “Opinion” section. The Advertiser has an opinion section that regularly reprints a select few national news stories. I believe that there is no need for an “Opinion” section in the Advertiser because a) national articles are not local news, and b) the Advertiser has a local opinion section: “Letters to the Editor.” Advertiser, let the people in Rensselaer County write their opinions (in Letter to the Editor), and ditch your Opinion section.
Debbie Hoffman, Brunswick, NY