“KENNEBUNK — Potentially harmful contaminants known as PFAS, or PFCs, detected in the water at the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells Water District’s Kimball Lane well in West Kennebunk resulted in the shutdown of the well last spring, according to District Superintendent Norm Labbe.
Labbe said while the level of PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, found in the well were below the Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory set in May 2016, the district decided to err on the side of caution. Labbe said Maine aligns with the federal guideline of 70 parts per trillion, and the Kimball Lane well tested at 50 parts per trillion last spring.
‘We were not in any violation of a drinking water standard, and we are below the health advisory, and we still shut the well down as a precaution,’ Labbe said. ‘We could have watched and waited and continued to test while the EPA figured out permanent guidelines. But we don’t roll that way here. There was doubt, there were questions about what that level should be. So we shut it down.’…
The district has set up a pilot testing facility at the well site to treat the water and remove the compounds. Labbe said if the pilot tests are successful a large carbon-filter system will have to be constructed, and it will not come cheap.
‘We’re estimating around $1.5 million to build a facility, with an additional $80,000 a year for operating costs. When the well is back online it will generate a quarter of the district’s water supply to customers,’ he said.”
Read the full article by Donna Buttarazzi