WEST SPRINGFIELD — West Springfield will test its Southwick water treatment facility to see if it filters out certain varieties of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
“We decided that we wanted to make sure that the filter media that we’re using is effectively treating the contaminants that we found out there,” said Michael O’Connell, the West Springfield Water Divison’s deputy director.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a series of over a thousand man-made chemicals that can be found in non-stick cookware, water-resistant products and stain-resistant products, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. That includes clothing, shampoo, cosmetics, firefighting foam, artificial turf and food packages, among a wide variety of products.
Infamously, they take a long time to break down, earning them the nickname “forever chemicals.” PFAS is associated with liver, kidney, thyroid, reproductive system and immune system problems, as well as with cancer.
“Long-term exposure increases risk of cancer,” said O’Connell. “The larger scientific community doesn’t know the full health effects of PFAS, but everytime a report comes out, it’s never good.”
That’s a problem because PFAS, according to the EPA, has been found in water supplies around the world. That includes in Westfield’s North Side neighborhood, whose residents blamed the military’s use of PFAS-laden firefighting foam at Barnes Air National Guard Base.
O’Connell said PFAS is in West Springfield’s source water.
“We’ve never tested positive for the treated water,” he said.
Nonetheless, West Springfield wants to test the filter media at its Southwick Wellfield Water Treatment Facility to see if it catches a variety known as short-chain PFAS, which O’Connell said the EPA is planning to add to its list of regulated PFAS varieties. It will compare the filter media it currently uses with other brands.
The division is also hoping to identify the most cost-effective brand of filter media. O’Connell said the current filter media has a lifetime of 20 months. With the Southwick facility using 20,000 pounds of it, that short lifespan comes at a considerable cost.
“If we can extend that 20,000 pounds at all, that’s great,” he said. “I’m hoping we can extend it to 25, 30 or hopefully 40 months.”
Completing the study will cost $198,600. The town will pay for it using the EPA’s Emerging Contaminants for Small and Disadvantaged Communities grant, which is itself funded by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021. State Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) announced that the town received the grant in a Facebook post Aug. 6.
“Thank you, Sen. John Velis,” Mayor William Reichelt said.
In a statement, Velis showed enthusiasm for the study.
“I am thrilled that the town of West Springfield was selected by MassDEP and the EPA in the first round of grants to support public water suppliers in providing residents with access to clean drinking water,” he said. “I thank the mayor for his dedication to monitor and improve the town’s existing water treatment to ensure that residents have access to drinking water free of harmful chemicals.”
O’Connell hopes the study will begin in November or December, whenever what he described as the bureaucratic paperwork that needs to happen beforehand is finished. He expects the study to last 6 to 7 months.
Heywood Ave. water safe
The study is unrelated to the do-not-use-water order the state Department of Environmental Protection issued for the Heywood Avenue area on July 23. That was caused by water from a private plumbing system backflowing into the town’s water main, said Reichelt in a July 25 Facebook post. In the same post, he announced that the DEP had lifted the order and that the town installed a backflow protection device.
O’Connell said the Water Division is still collecting information about that event.
