5 April, 2023
Town Manager Norman Khumalo, Fire Chief William Miller and Director of Public Works John K. Westerling wish to address inquiries from the public and from local journalists on the possible sources of elevated PFAS levels detected at one of the Town of Hopkinton’s water wells.
Recent tests placed Hopkinton among the thousands of communities in all 50 states that are affected by levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – so-called “PFAS” or “forever chemicals” – that have raised concern nationwide. The Town has tested its water supply sources monthly since July of 2021 and that testing confirmed that the Fruit Street well #6 is contaminated with elevated levels of PFAS above the action level of 20 parts per trillion (PPT).
Hopkinton’s Department of Public Works is focused on removing the PFAS contamination from the public water supply through a filtration process using granulated activated carbon and ion exchange filters. The Town has received the necessary permits from the DEP and bids have been received to implement the filtration system. Construction is expected to begin soon.
It has been suggested by some – and the Town has received an inquiry from our local journalist – that Massachusetts Firefighting Academy training operations in Hopkinton in the 1970s and 80s may have contributed to the contamination and that training centered around fighting natural gas-fueled fires may have used a product called Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), which is known to contain PFAS. The Town is presently without knowledge to judge the truth or accuracy of these suggestions.
When the Town was permitting well #6 in 2003 an engineer hired by the Town determined that “the primary known source of potential contamination is the salt that was stored and used at the former sand and gravel operation” nearby and that “no other potential sources of contamination were identified.”
“The Town of Hopkinton is focused on removing PFAS from our public water supply. State and federal resources nationwide are separately focused on determining causes of contamination. Our focus is on getting it out of our water supply,” Director Westerling said.
Hopkinton DPW estimates that a local investigation to attempt to determine a cause of the PFAS infiltration would likely cost several hundred thousand dollars, may duplicate state and federal efforts, and may not produce a conclusive result
While fire departments across the world used AFFF for decades, it has since been removed from service, and the Hopkinton Fire Department no longer uses any firefighting foam that contains PFAS. Today, fire departments and fire training academies use more environmentally friendly products for firefighting.
PFAS chemicals were widely used in numerous industrial applications and have been discovered to be persistent in the environment. Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS may be linked to negative health effects on people and animals.
As awareness of the dangers and possible effects of PFAS is still an emerging field, there is still much that remains unknown. Federal researchers from the EPA continue to work to develop better detection methods for the chemicals, and scientists are still studying how harmful the chemicals are to people and the environment over time. Of note, the EPA is still learning how to reliably remove PFAS from the drinking water supply and how to responsibly manage and dispose of the chemicals.
The Town of Hopkinton is also joining a class action lawsuit aimed at the manufacturers of these chemicals and has been in contact with the EPA and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
President Joseph R. Biden and the EPA are engaged in an aggressive campaign to battle PFAS contamination in public water supplies. Click here (https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-strategic-roadmap-epas-commitments-action…) to learn more about the EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap initiative.
