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Date: 12/27/2023
HAMPDEN — Water Commissioner John Plaster and Tighe & Bond Project Manager Jennifer Gilbert came before the Board of Selectmen on Dec. 18 to request additional funding for engineering work that would add nearly 20 homes to the town’s water supply.
Plaster said the landfill continues to leach chemicals into the groundwater and wells of homes surrounding the site. The chemicals in question are per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. They are found in heat-, oil- and water-resistant coatings and have been used in many products for decades.
Ten homes around the landfill have been undergoing PFAS testing by WJF Geoconsultants four times per year. One of the properties was connected to the system in August. Plaster said water line already ran past his property on Scantic Road, making the connection relatively easy and inexpensive.
The town contracted with Tighe & Bond to complete engineering work to determine whether adding the homes to the town’s water supply district would be more cost-efficient than long-term testing.
“We could be spending $150,000 a year in PFAS testing” in perpetuity, Flynn said. Davenport added that a connection may be needed in the future anyway.
After the engineering work was about 50% complete, Gilbert said the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection contacted her and the town and informed them that an additional 10 homes in the area need to be regularly tested. The additional properties are on Cross Road and Glendale roads and the southern end of South Monson Road. If all properties are connected to the system, it will serve a total of 35 homes in town.
Gilbert explained that including the extra 10 properties would change the scope of the project from 3,600 linear feet of pipe to 5,100 linear feet of pipe. She noted some homes are more than 100 feet from the street, requiring more infrastructure. Plaster said the new pump house portion of the project will provide the pressure and volume capacity to the extended lines. While there would be slightly lower pressure at the highest points, Gilbert said it was comparable to other parts of the system. There is also plenty of water in the two existing town wells to serve the required residents.
The expanded scope will bring the engineering costs from $174,000 to $214,700. The original contract was paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funding and the board approved the additional money to come from the same source.
Flynn questioned whether more homeowners would want to be connected after this work is completed. Plaster believes so but noted that when the state offered free PFAS testing, fewer than 90 residents took advantage of it. Markel said whether homes are hooked up to the system depends on the PFAS testing results and whether MassDEP mandates they are connected.
Master Plan Steering Committee
Board of Selectmen Chair Donald Davenport Volunteered to be the body’s representative on the Master Plan Steering Committee. The committee will have representatives from the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, Parks and Recreation Department, Council on Aging, Capital Planning Committee, Building Department, Conservation Commission, Highway Department, Historical Commission, and the Fire Department, said Planning Board member Patrick Coyne.
“It’s not just [the Planning Board] when you talk about the master plan, it’s every department and every facet of the local operation,” said Board of Selectman member John Flynn.
A consulting firm will work with the Master Plan Steering Committee and coordinate stakeholder meetings and a community immersion day to gather feedback in the coming months.