A Palmerton woman wants to know what remedies are being taken after contaminates were recently found in the borough’s drinking water.

Raberta Hans asked for a water situation update at last week’s borough council meeting and asked what steps the borough is taking.

Borough Manager Autumn Canfield said that the Palmerton Municipal Authority has been working with the Department of Environmental Protection to address the issue of PFOAs and PFOS in the borough’s water system.

Canfield said it’s a “systemwide” problem.

After the meeting, Canfield said the borough has been included in DEP’s Professional Engineering Service program.

“The PES is overseen by the Capability Enhancement Program and aids small and medium-sized communities like ours,” Canfield said. “The technical assistance provided has allowed the borough to move forward with the first steps toward resolving the PFOA and PFOS violations.”

Engineering firm

Canfield noted that the engineering firm contacted through the DEP for the project have developed a feasibility study which reviews the options for treatment of the borough’s wells, and added the municipal authority is currently reviewing the information provided by the engineers.

She said continued partnership is available with DEP through the PES program for design of the treatment facilities, as well as preparation of permit and funding applications.

“This work is being done to accomplish treatment at the entry point of the system,” Canfield said. “It is a system wide problem as the PFOA and PFOS affect most of the water that enters the blended system from two entry points.”

Additionally, Canfield said the municipal authority has been pursuing new water sources to enhance the health of the system, and added test well locations have been identified, “and we are working through submissions to DEP for approval to explore these options.”

“While we are moving forward actively with these efforts, all aspects of these processes are time consuming from studies to design and permitting,” she said. “Ensuring an appropriate and effective solution is crucial in providing our customers water.”

Violating standards

The Palmerton Municipal Authority sent out a Code Red to homeowners recently to make them aware of the situation.

The municipal authority said it routinely monitors for drinking water contaminants, and that testing results it received on May 30 show that their system exceeds the standard, or maximum contaminant level.

PFOS and PFOA are chemicals that are part of a larger group referred to as perfluoroalkyl substances. These are human-made chemicals, and do not occur naturally in the environment. They have been used to make items that are resistant to water, grease or stains such as cookware, carpets and packaging.

Canfield said earlier this month that during required quarterly testing the borough’s water system violated a drinking water standard.

She said at that time the borough was working with DEP through its Technical Assistance Program to identify the borough’s options for treatment.

Beginning in January 2024, water systems servicing over 350 customers were required by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to start initial compliance monitoring for two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS.

PFAS often shows up on items such as wild caught fish, dust particles, food that was packaged in different types of containers (such as popcorn), cleaning products, stain resistant carpet, water repellent clothing, nonstick cookware, fast food wrappers, pizza boxes, candy wrappers, and even certain plastic containers you drink from. They are also used in industrial processes and in firefighting foams.

The standard for PFOS is 18 parts per trillion, and for PFOA is 14 parts per trillion. PFOS at Entry Point 102 were found at a level of 48.6ng/L on May 14 the drinking water.

Additionally, PFOA were found at a level of 34.2ng/L on May 14 in the drinking water.

The second quarter average is 35ng/L for PFOS and 31.ng/L for PFOAs.

Homeowners were told this isn’t an immediate risk, and that if it had been, they would been notified immediately.

To learn more about PFAS, visit: PFAS chemicals overview I AJSDR (cdc.qov) or contact the borough manager or Public Works Supervisor at 610-826-2505.

The Palmerton Municipal Authority serves about 2,200 customers.