“A monitoring well drilled near a former landfill in East Quogue has detected a perfluorinated compound in a concentration more than 150 times the level at which federal officials say exposure in drinking water can cause health problems, including impaired fetal growth, certain cancers and immune system conditions.
State Department of Environmental Conservation officials said the result — the highest concentration detected on Long Island of the compound, used in some firefighting foams — came from groundwater samples, not a drinking-water well.
Nevertheless, Southampton Town began delivering bottled water Wednesday afternoon to 107 homes in the surrounding area with private wells. Suffolk County will offer free testing of those wells starting Monday.
‘People who are on private wells in the area of concern should not be drinking the water,’ Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said. ‘Hopefully the test results will show no contamination.’
If test results are above a federal health advisory level, the state will decide whether a home should have a treatment system installed or be hooked up to public-water supplies, which, unlike private wells, must comply with drinking water standards…
The DEC monitoring well was one of three drilled near the 10.6-acre site off Damascus Road in January as part of a broader state investigation into how pollution from closed landfills affects groundwater. The site also was used for firefighter training.
Tests in February at the well, drilled south of the landfill, revealed levels of the compound — perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS — at 11,200 parts per trillion.”
Read the full article by Emily C. Dooley