WCCC to treat for high PFAS levels in drinking water

While many sources of public drinking water in Washington County do not yet have test results for harmful chemicals known as PFAS, one location that has been tested does have elevated levels of the so-called "forever chemicals." Washington County Community College (WCCC) in Calais has found that one of its four wells on campus tested above the recommended state limit for public drinking water supplies, and another well was below the state limit but above the detection limit. The water from the well above the limits is not currently being used, and WCCC is implementing a treatment plan for the water.
Those drinking water supplies in the county that have test results well below the state limit include the Passamaquoddy Water District, the Baileyville Utilities District, the Princeton Water District and some schools, including Calais High School and the Charlotte and Alexander elementary schools. All public water systems, schools and childcare facilities in the state must test for PFAS by December 31.
At WCCC, test results from eight sites indicated six had elevated levels of PFAS, with the highest being 48.1 parts per trillion (ppt), according to the Maine Drinking Water Program's listing of test results. The state has set an interim standard of 20 ppt for six PFAS, with remediation required for higher levels, while the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a health advisory with a minimum reporting level of 4 ppt for two of the compounds, PFOA and PFOS. If water sampling results show that the chemicals are above its health advisory reporting levels, the EPA recommends that water systems undertake additional sampling.
Only the well at WCCC's St. Croix Hall tested above the state limit, while the well at Harold Howland Building tested below the state limit but above the detection limit of 4 ppt, so both wells will be treated.
According to WCCC President Susan Mingo, the college is working on developing a treatment plan according to Maine Drinking Water Program standards. WCCC is working with DuBois & King Inc. of Bangor, a Maine licensed professional engineer, to oversee the project, including providing plans and specifications for mitigation of the PFAS levels. "We are presently awaiting the design of the treatment system. We've been informed that it will likely consist of multiple granular-activated carbon (GAC) or ion exchange resin canisters," says Mingo. "The treatment will be non backwashing, so there will be no waste stream effluent to the environment." Effective treatment processes for PFAS removal include granular-activated carbon, ion exchange resins and high-pressure membrane systems.
Mingo says that work will begin as soon as possible, once the state has approved the plan. The project should begin by the end of October, with a target completion date of December. In the meantime, the college has posted a "do not drink order" at several locations in St. Croix Hall. Also, it has a water cooler with bottled water for individual consumption. "We are working diligently to mitigate this concern and restore our drinking water to acceptable levels in St. Croix Hall," says Mingo.
The high PFAS levels were likely caused by the spreading of septage waste at the college back in the 1990s. Washington County Technical College had received a license to spread septage on a one-acre site at the college in 1990 for a five-year term, which was renewed for another five-year term in 1995.
Since the issue of PFAS contamination came to the fore in Maine earlier this year, there has been growing awareness that the presence of the forever chemicals is linked to septage and sludge spreading from municipalities and other septage treatment sources that was an accepted practice licensed by the state for many years. In Washington County, from Cherryfield to Indian Township there are 14 septage land application sites and six sludge utilization sites, with licensing going back to the 1990s or before. In addition to septage and sludge spreading on agricultural farms, fields and barrens and municipal airport lands, the material was added to soils and other materials to create compost for use by home gardeners.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection instituted a testing program in 2019 requiring licensees of sludge and sludge derived products to test for PFAS. This data confirmed the presence of PFAS in these residuals, including a large percentage that exceeded Maine's screening levels for PFOA, PFOS and PFBS. The link was then made between land application and PFAS contamination in soil, water and certain agricultural products.
According to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Environmental and Community Health, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are manmade chemicals that have been widely used since the 1940s in consumer products and industrial applications, and most people in the United States have been exposed to some level of PFAS.
PFAS do not break down easily, and this characteristic is now recognized as potentially detrimental to human and mammalian health because of the ability of the chemicals to build up over time in the environment and in drinking water and food sources such as agricultural and farm products and wild game and fish. PFAS are linked to health risks, including reduced reproductive fertility and hormone disruption, development effects and delays in children, increased risk of some cancers, a reduction in the body's ability to fight off infection and more.