PFAS pollution spurs new water treatment plant in Barnstable

2022-05-21 17:50:30 By : Mr. Kevin du

The Barnstable Fire District Water Department will spend $20 million to build a treatment plant to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) from drinking water.

Voters in the district overwhelmingly approved the plan after a detailed discussion Wednesday night at the Barnstable County offices during theannual meeting. The article was one of 18 on the warrant but it dominated the discussion as the $20 million burden will fall on roughly 2,000 ratepayers in the district. Barnstable is divided into four separate water districts.

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Several Barnstable Fire District wells are off Mary Dunn Road behind the airport. They’ve become contaminated with PFAS, chemicals that are stain and fire resistant and used in fire suppressing foams as well as many other products. Wells #2 and #5 are adjacent to the Fire Academy and the airport where  fire fighting foams were frequently employed.

The estimated cost for the water treatment facility is $20 million.  Close to a year ago, it was $13 million. Inflation and the projected demand for the filtration materials has sent the cost sky rocketing. 

District officials said the annual operational cost for the plant will be $300,000 a year. The district is scheduled to get a zero percent interest loan from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust PFAS mitigation program to cover the construction cost. It is expected the district will also receive 6.6% loan forgiveness or $1.32 million.   

For a family of four the increased rates to cover the cost of the treatment plant bond would add $562.20 to the annual bill for water use and service increasing the total cost from $522.80 in FY22 to $1,085 in FY26.

The treatment plant will be built off Breedsville Road and filter water from wells #2 and #5.

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“(PFAS) have a long half life and bioaccumulate in the body,” Water Superintendent Thomas Rooney said. “Massachusetts has initiated regulations for PFAs at 20 parts per trillion (in drinking water).”

One of the wells was sampling at 12 ppt and the other well is close to that. In May of 2020 the combined PFA concentration in wells #2 and #5 (which simultaneously pump water into the system) was 23.6 ppt. In June it dropped to 18.8 ppt. The levels fluctuate due to rain and season. Rooney said the more water that is pulled out of the wells the higher readings have been. If the levels exceed 20 ppt the wells would have to be shut down.

The district is a separate municipal entity from the county and town so it needs to solve the problem on its own.

“We have to ensure our capability to meet water demand at all times,” Rooney said. “The soil we have is very sandy. Anything we put in the ground easily reaches the groundwater. Cape Cod is unique in that there is a bubble of (fresh) water under Cape Cod that sits on salt water. Emerging contaminants will be an issue in the future.”

Rooney said this will be a national issue with more water departments competing for filtration equipment and supplies.

“The federal government is zeroing in on this as a contaminant,” Rooney said.

Currently in Massachusetts six PFAS are being regulated as contaminants. Rooney said the state will be looking at six more soon and other non regulated PFAS have been detected in Barnstable Fire district wells. Adding more PFAS to the regulated list could push district wells over the 20 ppt threshold.

"They readily accumulate in the body and the biggest issue is pregnant women and infants. They have been detected in newborns and breast milk,” Rooney said.

PFA’s have been linked to liver, kidney, thyroid and endocrine system damage and immune deficiencies, he noted.

“We’ve worked the last year and a half to design a filtration plant to remove these and other contaminants,” Rooney said. “If we knew what we know now we wouldn’t have put a well field next to an airport. The town of Barnstable is installing carbon filters at its wells. It has become outrageously expensive. Hyannis just built a treatment plant for $10 million. Our original cost estimate was $13 million. In 12 months the cost has shot to $20 million.”

Rooney said that was due to supply chain difficulties. The district has received a $300,000 grant and $96,000 in loan forgiveness not including the expected 6.6% on the full $20 million from the Clean Water Trust. Still the cost is high.

In the meantime (it will take two to three years to complete the plant) the district is blending water from the wells to keep levels lower — at about 10 ppt, Rooney said..

“So it is safe to drink,” he said. “But if detections increase we could be in a difficult situation. If it’s over 20 ppt we’ll be mandated by the state to do this. There’s a pipeline of money and we’re at the end of the pipeline to receive money now.”

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When well #1 comes back on service and can be bended in that should lower the PFAS count further to safer levels.. So far no PFAs have been detected in well #1.  Wells #3 and #4, behind the Hyannis Golf Course, have PFAS levels close to 10 ppt.  

The treatment plant will employ greensand filtration to remove iron and manganese (which are also regulated) and granular activated carbon filtration to remove PFAS.

“The plant will handle 1.6 million gallons a day,” Rooney said. “We will use well fields #3 and #4 in the summer.”

The district is involved in a class action suit against the foam manufacturer.

With the probability of more types of PFAS being added to the monitoring list and his experience that the more water that is drawn from a well the greater the PFAS detections, Rooney worries that the 20 ppt level will be exceeded without filtration treatments.

“This will be a good future investment,” he said of the plant. “I feel confident we have a good economic facility and a design we can be proud of.”