Residents of the village of Hoosick Falls may soon see a measure of justice.

A preliminary settlement of over $65 million has been hammered out to settle a federal lawsuit with three of the four polluters in a case which goes back to 2015 when residents of this Rensselaer County community discovered their drinking water was contaminated with Perfluorooctanoic Acids, or PFOAs.

According to the American Cancer Society, PFOA exposure has been linked to certain tumors, and studies have suggested possible links to prostate, bladder and ovarian cancers.

“A lot of people are very surprised and very happy,” Mayor Rob Allen told Capital Tonight. “I know as village government, even though this is not the part we have been directly involved in, it’s a very good sign seeing the companies agreeing to a settlement like this, which is reflective of the science, of justice and of the situation that we have had to endure.”

The federal lawsuit ensures both cash payments and medical monitoring for the next decade for thousands of property owners and residents who were found to have elevated levels of PFOA in their system.

Former EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck, who was the first official to alert the community to the danger it was in and urged residents to stop drinking the water, commented that now, at least, residents have received an acknowledgment that they were wronged.

"The residents of Hoosick Falls have been harmed by drinking water contaminated with PFAS and likely other PFAS exposures. No amount of money can replace the health damages, but I am glad they are receiving some measure of justice,” she said. “A key part of this agreement is medical monitoring, which should happen in scores of other communities with PFAS problems. Also, while the residents are no longer drinking contaminated water, the PFAS contamination is still not cleaned up. EPA and NY DEC need to pick up the pace on that," said Enck.

Hoosick Falls resident Michele Baker is one of the key litigants in the case.

“It’s been a rollercoaster ride to say the least, but chemical companies know they’re wrong and we got justice,” Baker told Capital Tonight.