Suspected contamination sources: (1) Firefighting foam used during a 1986 plane crash near the former Rutland State Airport, now the Rutland-Southern Vermont Regional Airport. Firefighting foam used/stored at Clarendon Fire Department.
In April of 2018, two wells that serve the Rutland Airport Business Park tested positive for PFOS and PFOA. Other wells in the area have been tested, but found non-detectable levels of PFASs. The affected wells serve a few hundred employees at eight businesses in the business park. Those businesses were notified not to drink the water, the wells were shut down, and bottled water is being provided.
At a Rutland town Select Board meeting on April 9, 2018, DEC representatives told residents that a carbon-based filter system will be installed on the affected wells, and that more well testing is underway.
As of May 2018, PFAS has been detected in 17 of the 35 sampled water supplies, with 5 samples exceeding the Vermont Drinking Water Health Advisory of 20 parts per trillion (ppt) for the sum of PFOA and PFOS.
In June 2018, Clarendon Elementary School started receiving bottled water due to PFAS concerns. The schools wells were tested 3 times. The first and third tests did not detect any PFAS levels, and the second sample tested at 2 ppt. The school will receive bottled water for the remainder of the school year.
Additional Resources:
- DEC: State Agencies Work to Remove PFAS Contamination from Rutland Business Park Water System
- Health Department Updates Health Advisory for PFAS, State Expands Testing Plan to include 10 Schools in Pilot Project
Media Coverage:
- Hazardous chemicals found in airport business park well
- State suspects firefighting foam source of contamination
- Clarendon’s water concerns differ from Bennington’s
- State agencies continue investigating PFAS contamination at Rutland-Southern Vermont Airport
- Water contamination tests at Clarendon school indecisive
- Clarendon school cleared: no tainted water
Full citations are available on the second page of the full contamination site tracker. We ask for your additions, changes, questions and comments be sent to pfasproject@gmail.com.