Meeting Monday to update public on Oakland water woes
BURRILLVILLE – The public will get an update on the state’s investigation into the contamination of the Oakland Association’s water supply at a second community meeting to be held Monday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Burrillville Middle School auditorium.
Town officials as well as representatives of the state Department of Health and Department of Environmental Management will be at the meeting to discuss the state’s preliminary investigation, recent test results of private wells and bottled water distribution plans going forward.
The DEM finished testing 55 private wells within a quarter-mile radius of the contaminated Oakland Association well last week and those tests
are expected to be discussed at the meeting.
“All the results of this sampling will be shared with each of the individual tenants/homeowners via mail,” state health officials said in a statement. “If any of the samples exceed the health advisory of 70 parts per trillion, then the tenants/homeowners will also be notified as soon as possible via phone.”
Oakland Association customers, as well as private well owners within a quartermile 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.
“While consumers are taking these precautions, Oakland Association is already developing a plan of action with RIDOH to reduce these chemicals to acceptable levels, which could include treatment or connecting to a new water source. DEM is conducting an investigation to determine the source of the contamination,” the health department said.
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.
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.
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.