By Katy Savage
Three public water systems in the state have issued Do Not Drink notices after industrial chemicals were found in their water supply. Two of those three are local schools.
Killington Mountain School and Mount Holly School, as well as Fiddlehead Condominiums in Fayston, had per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exceeding the state limit of 20 parts per trillion (ppt).
Fiddlehead Condominiums, which serves 60 people, had 29 ppt of PFAs, while Killington Mountain School, which serves 125 users, had 25 ppt. Mount Holly School’s PFAs level far exceeded the state limit, with 323 ppt.
“Those are the highest levels we’ve seen yet,” said Ellen Parr Doering, the deputy drinking and groundwater division director at the Agency of Natural Resources. “Usually when the levels are that high it means there’s a local source that’s causing the issue.”
She said ANR’s waste management division has been actively searching for the source in Mount Holly and expects results soon.
All public and non-transient, non-community drinking water systems in Vermont were required to be tested for PFAS by Dec. 1 under Act 21, which was signed into law on May 15, 2019.
PFAs can cause cancer, reproductive and development issues and thyroid hormone disruption, according to the EPA. PFAs were commonly used in stain- and water-resistant fabrics, cleaning products, carpeting, paints and fire-fighting foams starting in the 1940s, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The past and current use of them is resulting in increasing levels of environmental contamination.
The state has received test results for about 65 % of the public water systems required to be tested in so far, including municipal water systems, mobile home parks, homeowners associations and schools. It’s unclear how many have gone through the required tests.
Doering said there’s a lag of about eight weeks to get results back due to a shortage of labs and an increase in states requiring PFAs testing.
“We’ve had big delays in getting back the results,” she said.
Owners with water supplies exceeding state PFA levels are required to contact a water engineer to develop short and long term plans.
“A permanent solution usually takes some time,” Doering said.
KMS Assistant Head of School Dave Willis said the school has issued do-not -drink notices and has been buying bottled water for students and staff.
“It is what it is, we’re following the guidelines,” Willis said.
Willis said KMS is working with an engineer and the state to purchase a filtration system.
Some long term solutions may require installing a new well or repairing an old well.
“We’ve found a number of systems out there with older wells that may have worked for some contaminants but it’s obvious aren’t working for PFAs compound,” Doering said. “These failed wells need to be replaced.”
The state is still questioning if neighboring water systems to those that are being tested are in danger of having elevated PFAs.
“That needs to be further investigated—where’s this coming from and what does it mean for other supplies that are nearby?” Doering said.
Act 21 concurrently requires the ANR to adopt a maximum contaminant level rule for PFAs and submit it to the Secretary of State’s office by Feb. 1.
