Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics has agreed to fund the majority of water-line extension work to provide clean drinking water for Bennington residents in the PFOA contamination area, state officials announced Tuesday.
“I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to reach this agreement for the people of Bennington,” said Peter Walke, deputy secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources. “They have been incredibly patient with us while we’ve worked through these complicated issues.”
Saint-Gobain and the state will finalize the agreement once the project design work is completed at the end of February, said Walke. The state will contribute $4.7 million total toward the water-line extensions. The governor’s proposed fiscal year 2020 budget contains $316,000 to pay for the state’s portion of the water line work.
In a statement, the company said: “Saint-Gobain is pleased to have reached an agreement in principle with the state of Vermont and the Agency of Natural Resources on Corrective Action Area 2. We have worked closely with the state over the last few years to achieve our shared goal in this effort: ensuring residents have access to potable drinking water.”
The exact amount Saint-Gobain is to contribute will be based on the final design, although it likely will be in the range of the $20 million the company paid for extensions on the western side of the contamination, said Walke. The construction work is to be completed within two years.
Since the discovery of PFOA contamination in a portion of Bennington surrounding two former ChemFab Corp. factories in 2016, the state has been working with Saint-Gobain — the French company that bought ChemFab in 2000 — to figure out how to provide long-term clean drinking water for area residents. Around 300 households had wells with elevated PFAS levels, but the state has been working to provide clean sources of drinking water for additional area households as a precautionary measure, said Walke.
A similar agreement was reached in 2017 to provide access to the municipal water system for about 200 properties on the western slope of the contaminated area. Those water-line extensions were completed last fall, said Walke.
Negotiations had stalled between Saint-Gobain and the state over payment for work on the eastern side of Bennington as the company has contended there were other sources of PFOA contamination, including a former landfill. State officials have said that emissions from the ChemFab plants were the main source of groundwater and soil contamination.
The company agreed in October to fund the water-line design work for residents on the eastern side of the contamination. While there were 150 households with PFAS levels above the state’s 20 parts per trillion health advisory, permanent clean drinking water is being provided for about 200 households in all.
Most of the impacted residences will be hooked into the municipal water system. In areas where it’s impractical to extend water lines, the company will pay for drilling new wells or for residents to remain on permanent treatment systems, said Walke.
“Everybody is getting a clean drinking water solution,” he said.
State officials held a Monday night briefing in Bennington to update residents. Bennington’s town engineer will put out contract bids for construction once the agreement is signed.
