This fall, New Yorkers will be asked to vote on whether the New York State Constitution should be amended to recognize a "a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment." I suspect that, for many, this will cause a bit of head scratching. You mean we don't already have a right clean air and water?

No, New Yorkers do not presently have a right to clean air and water. There are many laws aimed at protecting human health and the environment, including laws designed to ensure that our drinking water is safe to drink and that our air is safe to breathe. But, as any resident of Hoosick Falls can tell you, if, for some reason, those laws don't apply or aren't being implemented effectively, citizens may have little recourse.

In the case of Hoosick Falls, a citizen concerned about an unusual number of family and neighbors getting cancer paid to have his drinking water tested, which revealed high levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a suspected carcinogen. Upon reporting the high levels of PFOA in the water to the relevant regulators, the Village of Hoosick Falls was assured by the Rensselaer County Department of Health and New York State Department of Health that Hoosick Falls' drinking water met all relevant standards and was safe to drink, going so far as to advise the Village that it was not necessary to collect more water samples. But here's the catch about PFOAS as well as many other so-called emerging contaminants, like 1, 4 dioxane (also regularly found in drinking water in New York). The laws designed to keep our drinking water safe only limit chemicals in drinking water for which drinking water standards have been established. If a standard hasn't been set (a process that can take decades), the chemical can lawfully remain in our drinking water. And, although serious concerns have been raised for decades about health risks from exposure to PFOA and similar chemicals, no national drinking water standard for it has yet been developed (although New York set its own standard of 10 parts per trillion in August 2020).