Kenneth C. Crowe II is reporting for the Times Union a carcinogenic chemical used in degreasing has been discovered in 12 residential wells in Nassau, Rensselaer Co., in a plume extending south of a state Superfund site heading toward Columbia County, Nassau Supervisor David Fleming said, December 6. “There’s one well above the state standard. They are currently on bottled water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun the process for an in-home treatment facility for that property,” Fleming said. The carcinogen TCE, or trichloroethylene, originated from the environmentally hazardous state Superfund site on Route 203; that site is connected to the federal Superfund site at the Dewey Loeffel Landfill, said Fleming. “Our immediate priority is the most rapid protection of human health possible. Our additional priority is the cleanup of this new contamination discovered along Route 203, just north of I-90 and the Columbia County border,” Fleming said. The EPA reported it collected tap water samples at 61 residences in October near the Route 203 site. There was no TCE detected in 48 residences, but it was found in a well nearby. EPA said it is working with the town, Rensselaer County, state Health Department and the state Department of Environmental Conservation when dealing with the Route 203 site. The Dewey Loeffel Landfill is labeled a toxic dump with approximately 46,000 tons of industrial waste. The toxic materials buried there include industrial solvents, waste oil, PCBs, scrap materials, sludge, and solids. “It’s going south toward Columbia County,” Fleming said about the groundwater pollution running from the Route 203 site. “It highlights the need to get a public drinking water source to these people,” Fleming said. “This has been my personal concern since we learned of the contamination.” Read the full story in the Times Union.