“EPPING — The town of Epping will fund another round of groundwater and well testing following a discovery of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the town’s landfill and possible private wells.
Selectmen on Monday, April 9 authorized Public Works Director Dennis Koch to spend $9,380 for a round of testing and water sampling, to be done by Stantec, an Auburn firm…
With other towns facing issues with PFAS, Koch said, the state recently began requiring twice-yearly testing.
Koch said the last samples were taken in October and were ‘slightly above’ the allowable limit.
Koch told the board the money for the additional testing was not in the budget. ‘But it’s a mandate and it needs to be done,’ he added.
In a phone interview, Selectmen Chair Adam Munguia said water problems at the landfill have been ongoing ‘for as long as I can remember.’
There has been a concern about the contaminants spreading to private wells in the area, he said. Two private wells were tested in the last round, with negative results.
‘But a recent reading has prompted us to do another sampling, just as a preventative measure,’ he said. The consulting firm will also sample six other private wells in the immediate area.”
Read the full article by Kathleen D. Bailey