More testing under way for Oakland wells
BURRILLVILLE – The Department of Environmental Management finished testing 55 private wells within a quarter-mile radius of the contaminated Oakland Association well on Monday, but the results won’t be known for seven to 10 days, Burrillville Town Manager Michael C. Wood told the Town Council this week.
“Everyone who was tested will get a direct phone call from the Department of Health advising them of what their test levels are,” said Wood, adding the results should be known by early next week.
Wood said the wells could be re-tested depending on what the readings indicate.
Oakland Association customers, as well as private well owners within a quarter-mile radius of the Oakland Association’s drinking water system, have not been able to drink or boil water for consumption for more than a week after water tests at the Oakland Association public well on Victory Highway came back with elevated levels of a chemical called PFAS, which has been linked to cancer and autoimmune issues.
The Oakland well serves 35 homes or approximately 55 families, but the state is also testing 55 private wells free of charge as state officials continue to investigate where the PFAS came from.
“From there they (state) will start to look at where the contamination came from,” Wood told the council Wednesday. “They will do that by testing in concentric circles outside of the Oakland well itself. They are about a quarter-mile out now, but they may go further if they find
that the wells within a quarter-mile have contamination.”
In the meantime, a second public hearing to update residents on the contamination investigation is tentatively scheduled to be held Monday, Oct. 3 at the middle school at a time to be announced.
In another new development, Wood said a meeting was held Friday with the Harrisville Fire District, which supplies potable water to residents in Harrisville. Wood said talks are ongoing regarding the possibility of Harrisville providing water to Oakland if need be. Wood said actual design plans for a connection between the two villages were drawn up years ago and could be used if the contamination problem is deemed to be widespread.
“We’re on top of this as much as we can be for now,” Wood told the council. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. It could be larger than it looks simply because we only have one well that’s been tested and everything around it is under process, so we’ll see what happens. But I’m sure we’ll be ready to meet the task if it comes.”
Meanwhile, deliveries of 5-gallon bottles of water will be made every two weeks directly to all families drawing from the Oakland Association well. The water is being delivered by trucks and personnel with either Poland Springs or Nestle Water logos.
According to town officials, residents will get three bottles each delivery. Residents do not have to be home and any empty bottles should be left outside so they can pick them up when they deliver. If residents run out of water before the next delivery, they can get water from the police station during the regular scheduled times.
Affected residents can also use their own containers to obtain licensed-source water 24-hours a day at outdoor spigots located at the Harrisville Fire District, 115 Central St., and the Harrisville Fire Department, 201 Callahan School St. There are posted signs leading to the location of the spigots.
Private well owners who live within a quarter-mile of the Oakland water system can pickup free bottled water at the police station on Wednesdays from 3-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The water is being provided by the state Department of Environmental Management.
Those same private well owners may also get water delivered to their homes as well after the Town Council voted Wednesday to send a letter to the Department of Health requesting that 5-gallon bottles of water be delivered to those homes as well because those residents are under the same restrictions as Oakland water customers.
The Rhode Island Department of Health says the chemical problem is with the Oakland Association’s well and any private wells within a quarter mile radius and does not affect public water systems or private wells in any of the other villages.
In early August, RIDOH’s Center for Drinking Water Quality began working with a group of researchers at Brown University to conduct sampling at approximately 35 selected water systems to collect data on PFAS. The systems that were selected for this testing are located within one mile of a facility that could potentially contain these chemicals or may have in the past.
These chemicals are currently unregulated in drinking water, but the Environmental Protection Agency recently lowered the health advisory level for two PFAS - Perfluorooctanoic Acid and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate - to 70 parts per trillion because of new findings on health effects. EPA’s health advisory levels were calculated to offer a margin of protection against adverse health effects to the most sensitive populations: fetuses during pregnancy and breastfed infants. The health advisory levels are calculated based on the drinking water intake of lactating women, who drink more water than other people and can pass these chemicals along to nursing infants through breast milk.
The slightly elevated levels of the chemicals were recorded during sampling at Oakland Association, Inc., which serves approximately 175 people. The sampling protocol calls for re-sampling whenever higher levels are identified. The three sample results collected from the system were 88 parts per trillion, 69 parts per trillion and 114 parts per trillion. The results were received between Sept. 14 and Sept. 29.