Private wells in some Harvard neighborhoods must include pre-sale test for PFAS

By Joan Eliyesil | The Harvard Press | September 24, 2020

Read the full article by Joan Eliyesil (The Harvard Press)

“The Board of Health voted at its Sept. 8 meeting to add PFAS to the list of substances some homeowners with private wells must test for before selling their homes. Only those homeowners who live in areas where wells have tested positive for PFAS must adhere to the new regulation, which also applies when digging a new well or rehabilitating an existing one.

The amended regulation applies to wells on Blanchard, Cedar Ledge, Craggs, Depot, Lancaster County, Mill, Old Mill, Pattee, Still River Depot, and Under Pin Hill roads. Also on the list are Prospect Hill Road from Depot Road through number 50, and Ayer Road from number 184 to the northern boundary of Harvard. Roads may be added or deleted as more information about the levels of PFAS in Harvard’s groundwater becomes available.

In 2019, the Board of Health asked the Army to test private wells in Harvard near areas of known PFAS groundwater contamination in Devens. Between
October 2019 and June 2020 Army contractor KOMAN Government Solutions tested 114 private wells in Harvard. Fifty-two showed some level of PFAS, and 11 of those exceeded the state’s current guidance value.

Those wells were on Blanchard Road, Lancaster County Road, Ayer Road (north of Route 2), and Depot Road. None of the wells tested exceeded the less-stringent guidance value established by the Environmental Protection Agency (see acceptable limits sidebar). Nashoba Associated Board of Health Agent Ira Grossman told the Press that Still River Depot Road is on the list because of its proximity to the Shabokin well in Devens, which tested over state guidelines for PFAS last year…”

This content provided by the PFAS Project.