PFAS Clarifications

We encourage you to contat the Ayer DPW if you have any questions or concerns. 
dpw@ayer.ma.us 978-772-8240

Regarding the March 2019 Boston Globe Article on PFAS:

March 7, 2019
DPW Superintendent Wetzel:

As Superintendent of Public Works and a Professional Engineer involved in public water supply and treatment for over 40 years, I feel it’s necessary to clarify some of the information presented in the March 7 article inthe Boston Globe “Toxic Chemicals Threaten Water Supply in Seven Municipalities”. I spent 2 ½ hours with the reporter explaining water testing, water treatment, and how Ayer, the State and the EPA have proactively responded to the contamination as soon as it was discovered in our water supply. I have given the Board of Selectmen numerous updates on the PFAS issue and the DPW’s actions to reduce the levels in the Town water supply. My quotes in the article were taken out of context to fit the reporters narrative. For example, when I stated that “I think we’re getting to the point that we have to assume there’s a risk”. I was not referring to the PFAS, but to other potential contaminants that may be present when we’re testing to the parts per trillion level . When I stated that “ We still don’t know the magnitude of the problem”, I was referring to all public and private water supplies, as the majority have not been tested for PFAS. Believe me, Ayer’s DPW – Water Division and me personally are committed to providing safe and reliable drinking water to the residents of Ayer. We have been working hard to expedite a treatment system to remove these chemicals from the Town drinking water.

March 7, 2019
Executive Director of the Massachusetts Water Works Association:

I wanted to comment on David Abel’s article “Toxic chemicals threaten water supply in seven municipalities” because the article contains inaccurate information that I feel should be corrected. In his article Mr. Abel states “The agency now maintains only a health advisory that recommends municipalities alert the public if the two chemicals reach 70 parts per trillion, the same level used in Massachusetts.” In Massachusetts, the MassDEP’s Office of Research and Standards Guideline (ORSG) looks at five compounds, not two as Mr. Abel states. The ORSG level is 70 parts per trillion (ppt), and it applies to the total summed level of five compounds: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and PFHpA. If any one, or the sum of any of the five, is over 70 ppt, the water suppliers must notify the public and work to reduce the level below the ORSG. MassDEP has gone beyond the EPA by looking at five compounds, which is far more conservative than the EPA Health Advisory of 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS.

As an organization that represents water suppliers throughout the Commonwealth, we are also concerned that some generalities in the reporting will cause unnecessary alarm among residents in the communities mentioned. Mr. Abel states, “In Massachusetts, the chemicals have been found in the drinking water of seven municipalities. In four — Ayer, Barnstable, Mashpee, and Westfield — they have been found in concentrations that exceed what the EPA considers safe. The chemicals were also found in Danvers, Harvard, and Hudson.” While we understand it is easier to just reference detections in a municipality rather than explain the specifics, it is a disservice to the residents in that community who are not impacted, to cause them to believe they are. In the case of Barnstable, they have four public water suppliers and only one, the Hyannis Water System, exceeded the Health Advisory. In Harvard, the municipal water supplier has not yet tested for the chemicals, it was detected in three small water systems serving private customers. In the future, any reporting on the issue should specifically state the Public Water System impacted and not the municipality. 

PFAS is an emerging issue that our Public Water Systems are paying close attention to; they are responding quickly to rapidly evolving information to ensure their customers are supplied with drinking water that meets applicable health standards. We hope that you will print a correction to the article so that the public has the right information.