A Williamsburg matzoh bakery defied a city Health Department order to halt production issued because it was using contaminated well water. “Only very small amounts are mixed with the flour,” said a lawyer for Congregation Yetev Lev D’satmer. The Satmar Matzo Bakery is near the Newtown Creek Superfund Site, a longtime dumping ground for toxic chemicals.
‘Toxic’ matzo maker chutzpah
SUSAN EDELMAN • New York Post
These matzo makers answer to a higher authority.
A Williamsburg bakery defied a city Health Department order to halt production of the unleavened bread for Passover because it was using contaminated well water.
“Only very small amounts are mixed with the flour,” said a lawyer for Congregation Yetev Lev D’satmer, which makes Passover matzo.
The city bans the use of well water to make food. The Satmar Matzo Bakery is near the Newtown Creek Superfund Site, long a dumping ground for toxic chemicals.
The bakery installed a filtration system, but the water still failed city tests, showing excessive nitrite levels, a spokesman said.
Department spokesman Sam Miller conceded the threat of toxic matzo to consumers is minimal.
“The chance of them getting sick is low,” he said.
Let me put this into English for you.
Michael Bloomberg is too much of wimp to fight Satmar and its bloc vote. So his health department did nothing to stop the sale and consumption of contaminated matzoh.
This is basically the same reason a baby died from metzitzah b'peh in September.
And after all, the risk of cancer or poisoning is "low" just like the risk of a baby dying was "low." But a baby died anyway.
[Hat Tip: Seymour.]