Filtered tap water flows from Bethlehem resident Jessica Dillon’s kitchen faucet on Jan. 9, 2025. Dillon had a water filtration system installed to get rid of the smell that has plagued the town’s water supply.

If health officials were worried about widespread soil and water contamination near a town reservoir that provides drinking water to more than 11,600 homes and businesses, you’d think they’d let the town know.

But in Albany County’s case, you’d think wrong.

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In a troubling breakdown in intergovernmental communication, the county failed to tell the town of Bethlehem that it was looking into whether biosolids fertilizers had contaminated wells not far from the Vly Creek Reservoir, the town’s primary source of drinking water. This happened while the town and owners of private wells had separately noticed problems with their water.

As the Times Union’s Ashley Soebroto........

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