As PFAS Threatens Muni Water Systems, Gov. Looks to Feds

Describing the issue as a "big problem," Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday that reining in the impact of PFAS chemicals is a priority for her administration while stressing that the federal government's involvement will be key.

Healey faced a listener question during her appearance on WBUR's "Radio Boston" about whether she would launch a rebate program to reimburse private well owners for installing PFAS treatment, similar to a system in place in New Hampshire. The governor said she would have her team examine the Granite State's program "to see if there's something that we could do that's comparable."

"When it comes to PFAS, know that I want to do everything we can as a state to help homeowners out, of course, help municipalities out," Healey said. "PFAS is a big problem. The numbers around PFAS in terms of its cost are just astronomical. We're definitely going to need help from the federal government."

Environmental activists have been pushing for government to crack down on products using PFAS, an acronym for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances that are sometimes called "forever chemicals" because of how long they take to break down and the health risks they can pose.

Speaking more broadly about climate action, Healey said the Biden administration has made "close to a trillion dollars" available to address the impacts of climate change.

"This comes back to Massachusetts competitiveness," she said. "This is a place I want us playing for those dollars. I want those dollars to make our communities safer, healthier, to address the issues that we have around everything from pollution in our rivers, the PFAS pollution, as well as what we're encountering right now in some municipalities -- running out of space for solid waste -- while also incentivizing and driving the climate technology and innovation that's just going to help power us away from fossil fuels." - Chris Lisinski/SHNS |

* Last year a bulletin to residents noted the presence of PFAS substances in town water, at one point in excess of state standards, but that seemed to be transitory. 

Our water system received notification of PFAS6 results showing that our system violated the 20 ng/L PFAS6 Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) drinking water standard during the January – March 2022 complianceperiod with an average of 31 ng/L from Well 7. This well was removed from service on January 19, 2022.
A sample collected on January 18, 2022 from Well 7 reported PFAS6 levels of 31.4 ng/L. Compliance with thePFAS6 MCL is calculated as a quarterly average based upon the total number of samples collected during thecompliance period. The location where elevated levels PFAS6 was reported is one of seven sources that supplies drinking water to our system. PFAS6 levels were below the MCL at the other well locations.