Chemical compounds that take prohibitively long to break down continue to be detected at West Tisbury’s closed and capped landfill.
Two testing wells at the former Old Stage Road facility, which was identified as a PFAS source last year, had recent readings that exceeded the state limit of 20 parts per trillion. One well tested for 30 parts per trillion, while another tested for 55 parts per trillion, according to a June 9 letter from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The sampling of the wells was conducted in March by Wilcox & Barton, the environmental consulting firm employed by the town.
As the contaminated wells are near private wells, the state is requiring the town to develop a response plan by August 11, and to provide bottled water or a “point-of-entry treatment system” to the homes with the private wells.
At the West Tisbury select board meeting on Wednesday, town administrator Jennifer Rand noted that the town was already employing the services of Wilcox & Barton.
Still, she said the town might be on the hook for more expenses related to PFAS. Rand said the water at one West Tisbury resident’s home saw a significant increase in iron after installing a PFAS filtration system, which was added after previous testing. The reason for the increase isn’t known. The town has provided the household with bottled water in the meantime.
“The end of that story is, We may have to pay to replace their sinks, toilets, and showers,” Rand said. “But I’m waiting to see how this all plays out.”
The select board did not have a discussion on the issue at Wednesday’s meeting.
West Tisbury has had issues with PFAS contamination before. The state listed one of the town’s fire stations as a potential source of PFAS for a private well that was contaminated in 2023. Meanwhile, firefighting foam formerly used by Martha’s Vineyard Airport was suspected as being the cause of a series of private wells’ being contaminated by PFAS in 2018. The airport kicked off a PFAS mitigation project in 2022.
PFAS, also called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, describes a family of chemical compounds. While they are widely used, extended periods of exposure to PFAS, or high concentrations of them, are toxic, and can lead to severe health issues. PFAS have been nicknamed “forever chemicals,” and can take up to a thousand years to break down in the environment.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implemented a much stricter four-parts-per-trillion limit for PFAS in drinking water in 2024, based on new scientific studies into the forever chemicals.
