Toughening standards related to "forever chemicals" in drinking water has led to a significant increase in the number of potentially contaminated wells surrounding the Boyertown Landfill HSCA Site in Douglass Township. Last week, a representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection leading the remediation provided an update.

            Colin Wade, a project manager with the state agency, announced during a Dec. 10 meeting that 150 residential wells, of 200 recently tested, have been found to contain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances at levels exceeding the new standards. He told an audience, gathered inside the Gilbertsville Fire & Rescue engine room, that impacted residents are eligible for filter systems and bottled water from the DEP at no cost.

            Wade, who estimated that his agency has spent $1 million so far on the project, also informed the crowd that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is involved in the remediation project.

            The 30-acre property – located near Merkel Road and Diehl Drive – could eventually be declared a Superfund Site, according to Joseph Vitello, a site assessment manager with the federal agency based in Philadelphia.

            Vitello could not tell the audience how long assessment of the site at 45 Diehl Drive would take. He said that if it receives a Superfund designation, cleanup could take several years.

            Two years ago, Wade told multiple residents that eight filter systems had been installed at residences where the amount of PFAS and PFOS – used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water and are found in firefighting foam – were discovered in wells that exceeded Pennsylvania's Drinking Water Standards. He identified several contaminated wells on Diehl Drive, as well as others on Virmay Drive, Yoder Avenue, Merkel Road and Gilbertsville Road. The chemicals were also discovered in soil and surface water.

            More recently, he said additional testing has identified 150 properties with wells containing the substances at levels exceeding four parts per trillion, a new standard set by the federal agency and adopted by Pennsylvania within the last two years.

            Wade estimated the size of the underground plume from the former landfill, which operated for approximately 30 years before shutting down in 1987, at approximately a half-mile.

           An enlarged photo posted in the engine room identifies the detection of PFAS in the wells of a cluster of properties on Hemlock Drive and Hawthorne Avenue to the immediate south, Diehl Drive, Yoder Avenue, Virmay Drive, Mensch Lane to the east; South Werstler Avenue, Moore Drive, Onyx Lane and Pine Lane further east; Second Avenue between Merkel and Gilbert roads slightly north as well as Thrush Road, Lark Lane and Thresh Drive to the southeast.
            Human health effects from exposure to low environmental levels of PFAS are uncertain, according to a fact sheet posted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It states that studies of laboratory animals given large amounts of PFAS indicate that some PFAS may affect growth and development. In addition, these animal studies indicate PFAS may affect reproduction, thyroid function, the immune system, and injure the liver. Epidemiologic studies on PFAS exposure evaluated several health effects.

            During the meeting, a member of the Boyertown School Board disclosed the discovery of forever chemicals in the well that serves Gilbertsville Elementary, located across Route 73. Rodger Updegrove announced that PFAS were identified with a running annual average of 6.7 parts per trillion, above the new federal standard adopted last year by the DEP.

            In July, the district contracted with Suburban Water Technology, Inc. to oversee operations of testing and compliance regarding the district's water supply. A review by the company has determined that the school's running annual average water supply complies with DEP water supply standards for PFAS, set in 2023, at 14 parts per trillion.

            Administrators have until 2031 to comply with the new standard, according to a Dec. 15 letter from Superintendent Scott Davidheiser to parents and staff.

            In January, the school board and the business will discuss and recommend a remediation plan to lower the PFAS level to the federal standards as soon as possible, the letter states.

            Neither the school board member, DEP and EPA representatives nor the superintendent's letter identifies the source of the contamination at the school.