PFOA Level In Petersburgh Water District Cut In Half

by Alex Brooks
Petersburgh has announced that Water Superintendent Ben Krahforst has been able to lower the level of PFOA in the water of the Petersburgh Water District by using the wells which have the lowest PFOA contamination. Results released this week show a PFOA level of 47.4 parts per trillion (ppt) at the Town Hall and 44.1 ppt at the Town Library. Earlier tests of water in the Water District system showed levels of 95 to 100 ppt.[private]Krahforst said he has made improvements to Well # 5 so that he can now get most of the District’s water from that well. Well # 5 water was recently tested and found to contain 36.7 ppt of PFOA. Although full decontamination of the water must await installation of a filtration system, the level of PFOA contamination in the meantime has been cut in half through these efforts.  The current EPA advisory limit for short-term exposure is 100 ppt, and the Water District is now at less than half that level.
Petersburgh Supervisor Peter Schaaphok held meetings on Tuesday May 3, first with his own team and then with officials from Taconic, to try to move forward a filtration system for the Petersburgh Water District.  The team which met in Petersburgh beforehand included the Town’s  consultant, Don Fletcher of Barton and Loguidice, Petersburgh Building official Dave Miller, Water Superintendent Ben Krahforst, and members of the Town Board. They then went to Taconic to get an update on Taconic’s research into vendors of filtration systems.
Schaaphok said Taconic is close to settling on one vendor to supply the filtration system for the Water District. He said once the vendor is chosen and the equipment approved by the NYS Department of Health, he expects it will take less than 90 days to have the unit fully installed.  He said an addition would be built onto the water building to house the filtration equipment, but in order to get the unit installed faster, they will probably pour a foundation slab and install the unit on it, and then build around it before winter comes.
Schaaphok’s main concern about timing is how long it will take the NYS Department of Health to review the proposed unit and approve its design and installation. If the State is able to fast-track these approvals, he is hopeful the system can be completed expeditiously.[/private]