PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals,” have been a hot topic in Massachusetts since late 2021, when the state Department of Environmental Protection tightened its regulations regarding acceptable levels in water sources.
The Lynnfield Center Water District’s (LCWD) response to the tougher standard was swift. The district installed a temporary PFAS treatment system under a two-year pilot program at Station 2, which Superintendent John Scenna said “brought PFAS levels down to non-detectable levels from that well that was testing consistently above the maximum level” under the new regulations.
Now, LCWD is taking it one step further and asking rate payers to approve a revised plan to upgrade the Glen Drive Iron and Manganese Treatment Plant by including a permanent PFAS treatment system.
Scenna urged community members to come to LCWD’s April 26 meeting, where the revised plan will be presented and explained. The meeting will be held at the All Merritt Center at MarketStreet at 6 p.m.
“As a two-year pilot program, this (Station 2) is a temporary solution. So we’ve changed the Glen Drive project that was approved in May 2021 (for iron and manganese) to permanently address PFAS,” said Scenna. “We’ve also found a funding source which now makes the entire Glen Drive project eligible for the SRF (State Revolving Fund). That fund allows us to borrow money at 0 percent interest as opposed to current interest rates, which are extremely higher than anything we could have ever imagined or estimated two years ago.”
The original cost of the Glen Drive project was $9.8 million. Under the revised proposal, the district will seek to borrow $15 million. Scenna said he knows that some people are criticizing the delay in the project but that LCWD needed a year’s worth of data to understand the PFAS situation.
“Once we had that information we knew what we wanted to do,” said Scenna. “We needed to figure out how we’re going to pay this, because we couldn’t go back asking for another $6 million because we had just asked for 10. Borrowing $15 million in today’s world at 0 percent interest is actually about the same as borrowing the $9.8 million that was authorized two years ago. The increase is extremely minimal and may end up saving money, so this has all come together, in my opinion, very compact and impactful to the pocketbook.”
What are PFAS chemicals? Scenna described PFAS as a family of manmade chemicals that seep into water sources but don’t break down. PFAS are found in many common household items, including non-stick cookware, waterproof apparel, cleaning products, firefighter foam, takeout containers and wrappers, carpets and textiles, shampoo and personal care products, and cosmetics and sunscreen.
“I refer to them as things that make other substances slippery,” Scenna said.
How do PFAS chemicals get into the ground? Scenna said they mainly do so through septic systems’ leaching fields.
Scenna said the district wasted no time responding to DEP’s new regulations.
“We were very aggressive from a financial perspective. Our board of commissioners was prepared for what came,” Scenna said on the most recent episode of the cable TV show “Town Talk.”
“Town Talk” host and Town Administrator Rob Dolan agreed and asked, “Is it fair to tell the community that we now meet those (DEP) requirements?”
“100 percent, yes,” Scenna said. “Our most recent result brought PFAS levels to non-detectable, which is something we are really proud of. In that short amount of time, we were able to turn this around.”
He said testing is done on a “very minute amount of water, one part per trillion,” which equates to a single drop of water contained in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools, thanks to lab technology.
“Where there is a need in the United States, technology advances it,” Dolan said.
Scenna said when water contamination in the 1980s and 1990s caused by lead was an issue, individual states started regulating acceptable lead levels, which eventually led to the federal government adopting national standards.
“The same is going to hold true with PFAS, as right now the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is reviewing it,” said Scenna. “They’re putting up some stringent requirements. What’s good is what we have in place today still meets the proposed EPA regulations, which are now out for review and will become law in January of next year. We have two years to comply. Station 2 will meet that as well.”
Dolan noted that in recent years, LCWD customers have complained of brown water and other issues. Dolan said the problems were caused by “benign neglect” and a “lack of major capital investment in the system over the last 20 to 30 years that resulted in a number of structural problems in the district that this treatment plant (Glen Drive) will solve.”
“We’re really focused on water quality,” Scenna said in response. “We’ve tested this technology. We did pilot tests for the technology we’re going to put in our Glen Drive treatment plant. All of our pilot tests came back very, very good.”
He added that the pilot program is already in place and the proposed Glen Drive plant will meet both DEP and EPA standards.
