The first full-time government employee in the United States whose job is focused solely on dealing with PFAS works on Nantucket.
His name is Andrew Shapero, and CAI's Gilda Geist spoke to him recently to learn more about how these toxic forever chemicals are showing up in drinking water on Nantucket and beyond.
Gilda Geist It feels like every few months we hear about another round of private wells on Nantucket that have PFAS levels that exceed what the state considers safe. How often does the state come in to do this testing and how do they decide where to test first?
Andrew Shapero So, just in general, PFAS have been detected throughout the country in pretty alarming numbers. USGS did a study that came out at the end of 2024 and they found that about 50 to 66 percent of groundwater in the US is contaminated with at least one PFAS. Massachusetts has 500,000 residents who rely on private drinking water wells. Massachusetts has about 47 to 69 percent of private wells that are impacted by PFAS. When you zoom in on Nantucket, we're finding that PFAS are commonly detected. And so MassDEP [Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection] has an investigation going on on Nantucket. We are trying to get the word out that it is a good idea to get your well tested and PFAS are commonly detected on Nantucket, and that unfortunately includes many places outside of Nantucket as well—so the Cape and Islands and throughout the mainland of Massachusetts as well.
GG We hear or read these terms a lot in coverage of PFAS, such as 'safe limit,' 'imminent hazard.' Can you help us understand what these different regulatory terms mean in regards to PFAS contamination?
AS So right now, the enforceable standards are Massachusetts standards, which regulate six different PFAS compounds, and that level is 20 parts per trillion. On top of that, there is an imminent hazard threshold of 90 parts per trillion, and at that level, MassDEP recommends an immediate alternate drinking source. So in the case of recent imminent hazard detections on Nantucket, MassDEP is providing those residents with bottled water. Those residents eventually will need to remediate their drinking water. That could be either through a point of entry system, or it could be through tying into the town water. You raised a good question: what is a safe level of PFAS in drinking water? Massachusetts has some of the strictest standards in the country. In some ways, they are imperfect. EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] has set a maximum contaminant level goal of zero for PFOA and PFOS, which are two of the most commonly detected PFAS. So there's really a potential health benefit to removing even low levels of those PFAS from your water, even if they're in attainment of the state or federal standard.
GG A recent round of testing on the island found high levels of PFAS in private wells on Oak Hollow Lane and Hummock Pond Road. Can you help us like break down those results?
AS So, back in April we heard from MassDEP that they had detected an imminent hazard near exactly where you described. That concentration was 124 parts per trillion. So MassDEP was back on the island at the beginning of June and they got two more imminent hazard detections very close to the original one that was detected in April. The interesting thing is, they detected these very high levels of PFAS, but just a few hundred feet away, they detected as low as two parts per trillion. This is a pattern that we've seen on the island where we have high concentrations detected somewhere and we also have low concentrations detected not too far away. It really speaks to the importance of getting your well tested. You might live close to high levels and your water might be okay, to be honest. At the same time, you might hear about your neighbor who got a non-detect, and that shouldn't be treated as substitute for your own test.
GG PFAS contamination is coming up in a lot of private wells. Do people on town water have to worry about this?
AS Our town water is in the middle of having treatment installed on it. The Wannacomet water system has multiple wells. Two of those wells have been down. Currently, our water meets all state drinking water standards, so residents shouldn't have to worry about the quality of that water. But it is a long-term concern for the town, given that one of our wells has been impacted. And we're treating it, but it's something that the town needs to be thinking about.
Since this interview was recorded, the Nantucket Current has reported that the state has found two more private wells on Nantucket that have high levels of PFAS.
See the Nantucket town website for instructions on how to get your well tested for PFAS. In addition, the Barnstable County Water Quality Laboratory does relatively low-cost PFAS testing for residents of Cape Cod and the Islands.
