PFAS Update Memo 8.9.21

On June 30th, 2021, the Board of Public Works held a public meeting to deliberate the various options related to the short-term treatment of PFAS6 at the Town’s Happy Hollow wellfield location. After careful consideration of all options, the Board members voted for a treatment option that, once implemented, will allow the Town to operate the Happy Hollow wellfield with non-detectable levels of PFAS.

 

The contract for the lease and installation of the equipment required for PFAS6 treatment has been negotiated. The equipment should be installed and operational in October. As part of the contract negotiation, the logistics and cost of offloading the equipment were evaluated based on the location and the weight of the cranes required to bring the equipment to the planned treatment location. Some pavement work and some tree trimming will take place in the next few weeks to ready the site. The contract with ECT2, however, has not been signed because MassDEP has not yet issued the Town a permit for the short-term solution.

 

While MassDEP has approved the short-term solution and was notified of the Board of Public Works decision, the permit has not yet been received. MassDEP has been working with Tata & Howard on obtaining responses to follow-up questions. The contract with ECT2 cannot be signed until the Town has received the permit.

 

A concrete pad with a building enclosure for the treatment equipment will be built to provide protection and winterization for the equipment. Tata and Howard is designing the pad and enclosure. Once the design is complete, the construction will be bid. Construction of the pad must be completed prior to delivery of the equipment and construction of the building will occur after installation. Based on the current timing of completion of the design, the Town will seek an emergency procurement waiver so that the pad can be completed in time for delivery of the equipment.

 

Monthly sampling of the Town’s drinking water wells continues. The test results appear stable at this time. One exception is the Campbell well, which showed elevated test results in July. Because of the manner in which test samples were obtained, the Town believes that the result is erroneous. The well has been resampled and the new test results are anticipated in approximately 2 weeks.

 

MassDEP requires that public notices be distributed to households every quarter when the water supply exceeds regulated levels of PFAS6. A notice was mailed in late July. As a result, and as expected, a number of customers, who had not previously applied, have inquired about the availability of the water bill rebate. We, therefore anticipate that there will be an increase in the total number of households receiving a rebate at the end of August, when the next batch of rebates is processed. There are currently 626 households receiving water bill rebates based on the status of a member of the household being in a sensitive population for PFAS6 as defined by the MassDEP. We still anticipate that rebates will continue through October, 2021, depending on when the treatment equipment becomes operational and the receipt of test results below PFAS6 regulated levels. The rebate program costs approximately $20,000 per month.

 

The Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for the wax that is believed to have been disposed of at the High School Wastewater Treatment Plant in February 2017 were obtained. The MSDS do not reflect the presence of PFAS6. However, because the PFAS6 compounds are not regulated in manufacture, the Health Director has asked for guidance from MassDEP. MassDEP has not yet responded.

 

Sampling of the monitoring wells and the surface water locations set forth in the sourcing map was completed last week with test results anticipated in two to three weeks.