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Town Applying for Emergency State Financing for PFAS Mitigation Plan

The Town of Burlington is in the process of applying for emergency funding to clean the Mill Pond Reservoir drinking water of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

As reported by BNEWS, as the result of a new state drinking water standard, the Town of Burlington completed testing for this family of chemical compounds. The results indicate the presence of PFAS in a concentration of 40 parts per trillion (ppt), above the new standard of 20 ppt.

PFAS are a family of manmade chemicals used for non-stick coatings and firefighting foams among a list of other products. Manufacturing of certain PFAS was discontinued in the U.S. decades ago, but they may still be used in imported products and they are resilient and do not degrade easily in soil and water and as a result, they are widely found in the environment and many consumer products where they migrate to the food supply and drinking water.

MassDEP recommends consumers in a sensitive subgroup (pregnant or nursing women, infants and people diagnosed by their health care provider to have a compromised immune system), are advised not to consume, drink, or cook with water when the level of PFAS is above 20 ppt.

During a special meeting of the Board of Health on Tuesday night, town officials discussed the plans to mitigate the issue. DPW Director John Sanchez said the first step was to reduce the amount of water taken from the Vine Brook wells and open the connection to the MWRA through Lexington.

The next step will be to install new filters at the Mill Pond Water Treatment Plant to remove PFAS.

To help finance the project, Sanchez said the town has applied for financing from a State Revolving Fund. Typically this is done in October but during emergencies cities and towns can seek out the low-interest financing, normally 2 percent interest, through a special request. This is what Burlington has done and Sanchez said the town was given the go-ahead to apply to cover the cost of the filters and the engineering to draw up the plans.

In total the town is applying for $8 million, a figure Sanchez said is an estimate but is based on costs other towns have incurred for similar projects.

“Hopefully it’s not any more than that,” he said.

Sanchez said the town will also apply for grant funds from the American Recovery Act to help pay for the engineering costs.

The next big consideration is timing. Sanchez said the original plan was to bring this to Town Meeting in September for approval and start construction next spring with the goal of completing the project by the end of 2022. However, he said that because dozens of municipalities had their PFAS levels come in above this new standard, there has been a rush on filters. He explained there are reports that towns are facing a 20-month delay from the time they order the special filters.

He said it may be possible to speed up this process and his department will be looking at every angle. Perhaps they could split the project and place the order before the engineering piece is complete or try other avenues.

“We have to think of ways to do this so it goes faster if we have such a long lead time,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to accelerate the project.”