What is PFAS? PFAS is a ubiquitous chemical substance used since the 1940s in many industrial, commercial, and personal products. It is a danger to our water because it does not break down. The American Water Works Association provides the following information about PFAS found here. This is a great link because it provides resources for further research. And here is a link to the CDC’s information about PFAS and the EPA link.

Our Jersey Street Well is tested frequently for PFAS. Information about the test results can be found at the Energy and Environmental Affairs data portal HERE: You will need a PWS id number: 2232000. Water results are measured in parts per trillion (PPT), or NG/L. Currently, the maximum contaminant level allowed is 20 PPT or 20 NG/L. It takes 6 - 8 weeks for tests results to be posted.

The Bemis well was contaminated with iron and manganese a few years ago so a water treatment plant was built to address the contamination (cost: $8 million+).

Here is a map of the town’s water system. Transmission lines are bi-directional but, as a general rule, those neighborhoods that live closest to a well receive that well’s water. There are three storage tanks: Townsend Street, Heald and Mason Street. The Townsend Street well provides sufficient pressure to move water to higher elevations.

The Bemis well (wellhead 1) was shut down for five years from 2016 to 2021. During that time, the town received its water from Bemis wellhead 2, the Nashua Road well, and the two Jersey Street wellheads. As soon as the Bemis wellhead 1 was place back into production, the Nashua Road well was taken off line due to high PFAs counts. The Jersey Street wells have been operating continuously.

How do these two concerns about contamination and water supply relate to future development?

Last year, in the Town Engineer’s July 2022 letter to the Dept. of Housing and Community development regarding a 40R build-out, the Town Engineer wrestled with that question. He “…assumed a worst case scenario of all 611 units being constructed in the next two to five years … the build-out of all five proposed sites would essentially consume all currently remaining production capacity in the system and leave little if any capacity for non-40R development.” Then he went on to say: “It should be noted that the temporary loss of either remaining production well under the build-out scenario would require immediate and potentially severe restrictions on town wide water usage to avoid catastrophic impacts to the customers including fire protection.”

Temporary loss of either well due to a mechanical failure or for long-term maintenance, would also create hardship for water users.

At this 2023 Spring Town Meeting, town voters approved a $23 million dollar warrant article to build a water treatment plant at the Jersey Street wells to address PFAS contamination. The cost also included piping water from Dunstable to Pepperell, an intra-basin transfer of water, as Dunstable is within a different watershed basin. This is the town’s current solution to the capacity/supply issue outlined in the Town Engineer’s 2022 letter.

The EPA announced new drinking water health advisories and is funding $1 billion in infrastructure to address PFAS contamination. The news release regarding this announcement can be found here. This advisory was issued in June 2022. In late August, 2022, the EPA announced a second initiative proposing PFAs as a hazardous substance under the CERCLA or “Superfund” act. See here for the EPA’s news release.

One of the issues confronting our country is that municipal water infrastructure is aging (defined as 60 years and more) and needs to be replaced. (see the WaterAlliance for additional information.) The former Baker-Polito administration announced in March 2022 a bond bill to address transportation and environmental infrastructure by providing state matching funds to unlock federal infrastructure dollars.

It is very difficult to drill new wells due to recent state regulatory changes. Even if we could drill another well - and at considerable cost - there would be no guarantee that a new well - like the Nashua Road well - will not be free of PFAS.

The Nashua River is also contaminated with PFAs. Water samples were taken up and downstream of our wastewater treatment site for PFAS6 in 2020. See the report HERE: DEP PFAS6