“CLARENDON — Tenants in the Rutland Airport Business Park are under a ‘do not drink’ water order after elevated levels of PFAS were found in a well that serves the park.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals that include PFOA and PFOS. The chemicals have often been used to treat non-stick items like ski wax and stain-resistant carpets. They have been linked to health risks like increased cholesterol, and PFOA has been linked to certain cancers.

Peter Walke, deputy secretary of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said as part of the statewide sampling survey looking for PFAS, scientists looked for places where products that might use PFAS were used. One use was firefighting foam used at airports.

Walke said 10 wells were tested in and around the Rutland-Southern Vermont Regional Airport. Vermont maintains one of the strictest limits for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water at 20 parts per trillion. Levels close to that limit and slightly above it were found in two wells that serve a single water system.

The well with levels above 20 parts per trillion provides water to six businesses at the business park including the Vermont Country Store…

The affected businesses were notified and bottled water was provided for employees…

Walke said staff from DEC met with the operator of the water system and representatives of an engineering firm on Tuesday to discuss whether a temporary treatment system should be put in place or whether a permanent system could be installed in roughly the same amount of time…

Gile said he believed most tenants were using water for cooling equipment or providing water to staff, but Vermont Country Store operates an on-site bakery…

The presence of PFOA in the area was first noted in nearby Hoosick Falls, New York, but was then found in several sites, including a number of private wells in North Bennington. The situation there has been ongoing but the presumed source is Saint Gobain, after it acquired ChemFab, a plant that operated in North Bennington.”

Read the full article by Patrick McArdle.

Related: State works to remove PFAS contamination from Rutland business park water system