District board members said state environmental officials and consultants will join them to tour three sites being considered to replace the system’s PFOA-contaminated well on Route 346.
Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, was discovered last spring in the water that supplies about 450 customers in the southern sections of Pownal. A carbon filtering system was installed at the wellhead during the summer, bringing PFOA levels down below the state’s 20 parts per trillion standard for drinking water, but that is considered a temporary solution.
State officials believe the source of the PFOA is a former Warren Wire Co./General Cable Co. factory about 1,000 feet north of the wellhead. A number of private wells in the town also have elevated to high levels of PFOA.
District board members said two potential replacement well sites are on the 144-acre former Green Mountain Race Track property, less than a mile north of the Massachusetts line. They said a third site is west of the Hoosic River on Northwest Hill, which is also close to the state border.
A representative of a firm hired by American Premier Underwriters of Cincinnati, which has assumed some responsibility for the former factory site, also attended the district board meeting Monday. The representative, Michael O’Connor, of Unicorn Management Consultants, said he could not comment on the search for a new well site.
APU is funding the filtering system, bottled water for affected residents and other costs associated with the contamination, along with the costs of identifying and installing a replacement well, state officials have said. After a bidding process, Otter Creek Engineering, of Rutland, was selected by Unicorn Management to perform the well search.
Tim Raymond, operations and engineering section chief with the Vermont Public Drinking Water Program, said Tuesday it is likely the site inspections will take place regardless of this week’s snowstorm. He said those attending will likely include Dennis Nealon, a state hydrogeologist who is working with Unicorn Management and the district regarding a replacement well supply; Ron Bisson, the district’s on-site operator; a member of the district board; and representatives of Otter Creek and Unicorn.
Raymond added that he is concerned that Unicorn Management is listed as the applicant for a new water source permit, but the district will have to assume that role before activation of a replacement well. He said that means it’s imperative that the district and Unicorn are in agreement on aspects of the new well source.
One issue, Raymond said, is whether the new well will equal the 97 gallons per minute level the current well is permitted for, which is above the 45 to 50 gallons per minute the system typically uses. Thus far, Raymond said, the firm has not specified that a well with similar capacity will be sought.
He added that, if necessary, two new wells could be joined to feed the district water system.
The well search will require an investigation of the land within a 3,200-foot radius of the site for potential sources of contamination, Raymond said. Once a well is drilled, the yield and water qualify also will be tested.
An opportunity for public comment will be part of the approval process, he said.
The factory considered to be the PFOA source now is owned by Mack Molding, which has primarily used it as a warehouse. During ownership by Warren Wire, which opened in Pownal in 1948, and later General Cable and successor firms, wire and other products were manufactured. PFOA was used in coatings, such as Teflon, and in a number of consumer products over several decades.
The pollution in Pownal and in Bennington and North Bennington around a former ChemFab Corp. factory was identified last spring after similar contamination was discovered around industrial sites in Hoosick Falls, New York, and other upstate New York areas.
Vermont officials have said identifying, testing and approving a new well for a public water system usually takes a year to 18 months.
The current district well replaced an aging privately owned reservoir water system in the 1990s, when the district was formed.
Water in the district system was found last year to have PFOA levels of 26 and 27 parts per trillion. However, by late July the granular activated carbon filter system was installed near the wellhead and a no-drink order was lifted. The filtering system is expected to remain in place until a new water source can be brought online.
