[B]ENNINGTON — Vermont officials said Thursday that Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics has agree to fund final design work for extension of town water service to about half the Bennington properties affected by PFOA contamination believed to have emanated from a former ChemFab Corp. plant.

Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore and several other officials updated the community on the state’s response to the PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) contamination during a meeting at Bennington College. They said the company, which owns the closed ChemFab building, and the state remain in negotiation over the costs of extending town water lines to affected properties — the state’s preferred long-term drinking water solution to PFOA-contaminated wells.

The company has agreed, however, to fund final design work for water line extensions to affected properties west of the railroad line here, which is estimated to cost about $800,000.

ANR Deputy Secretary Peter Walke said the company and officials from state agencies still disagree over at least two points concerning properties east of the rail line. Those include the question of whether the former town landfill site is the source of some of the PFOA contamination and whether the state’s models showing the extent of airborne PFOA contamination from factory smoke stacks is correct.

Both parties agree that more preliminary engineering work, soil studies and water testing in the eastern section of the affected area is needed, Walke said. He added that the type of testing and engineering work planned also would be required to determine the best project design, and it will provide data upon which the state could take Saint-Gobain to court, if needed, to recoup the estimated $30 million cost of adding a total of some 13 miles of town water line.

Walke said construction work could begin in the western section while design work continues in the eastern section, adding that the entire project is large and complex and will require issuing five separate construction contracts over more than one season.

Moore said after the meeting that it is possible the state would pay for the construction itself and afterward take the company to court to recoup the costs.
“I think the challenge in there is that we have to have gone through our full investigation process, because otherwise we run the risk of not being able to recover costs,” she said. “The foundational principle that polluter pays is just core to us, because the process we use isn’t specific to Bennington, but to any contaminated site in the state, and we really need to hold true to that. So there is a component of additional investigation that may be required before we could be assured that we would be eligible for cost recovery.”

The state also is committed to beginning construction work during 2017, she and other officials said.

Although the company hasn’t yet agreed to fund the construction and specific details of the talks cannot yet be revealed, Walke said officials believe “a settlement represents the best solution for the people of Bennington and North Bennington.”

If an overall agreement is reached, there will be a public comment period of at least 30 days for residents and others to respond. In answer to questions about what standards the state would set in the negotiations, Moore said a settlement would be put forth “only if it is in the best interests of the people of Bennington and North Bennington.”

In Montpelier Thursday, Gov. Phil Scott, Attorney General T.J. Donovan and Bennington area legislators issued a joint statement that hailed the partial agreement, saying in part, “We are all pleased that important progress has been made in settlement discussions with Saint-Gobain relating to PFOA contamination.Yesterday, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and the Attorney General’s Office secured an agreement from Saint-Gobain to fund critical design work to support the state’s goal of starting waterline extension construction in 2017. Saint-Gobain has agreed to fund that critical work regardless of whether we are ultimately able to reach a settlement agreement.”

Gov. Scott said: “The entire state team is actively engaged in moving toward resolution for the people of Bennington and North Bennington, and my commitment has not and will not waver. I understand the residents impacted by this contamination are frustrated, and I share that frustration over the pace of negotiations with Saint-Gobain, but we will not let the settlement discussions stand in the way of preparing for construction.”

In answer to questions from Bennington residents, officials at the meeting said the state plans to extend the water lines to every property and also complete the connections into each home at no cost to the property owner. However, they also said that it might not be technically feasible to connect a few homes at the ends of line extensions, in which case drilling new wells that are shielded from layers of groundwater with PFOA contamination or enhanced filtering systems will be considered.

Personnel with two engineering firms working on the water line project are expected to visit each property owner in the affected areas to gather information on extension of water service to those home.

Concerning further testing of wells that may have tested below the state’s drinking water standard of 20 parts per trillion of PFOA, the officials said provisions in any settlement will include continued testing for as long as necessary to ensure levels do not rise in those now below the safe level.

Retesting of a significant number of the nearly 600 wells tested has shown that PFOA levels can rise or fall over time.

The state is focusing on ensuring supplies of safe drinking water, the officials said, while other concerns, such as the effect of the contamination on the health of residents and on property values, are being dealt with by property owners through the courts. A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court over property value and other losses, and subsequent individual suits in state court over health issues are expected.

PFOA, which was used in Teflon and other coatings used consumer products, is a suspected factor in some cancers and other conditions or diseases.