PFAS

The state recently certified the Barnstable County Water Quality Laboratory to test drinking water for the presence of PFAS, a group of chemicals that have been linked to serious health impacts.

For the second year in a row, 19 of the Cape’s 21 public drinking water supplies received an “Excellent” water quality score, and none was graded “Poor.” But the annual report also found that about 90 percent of embayments and more than a quarter of tested ponds on Cape Cod have "Unacceptable" water quality.

The Hyannis PFAS Community Working Group has received a grant to analyze how PFAS — from the Hyannis Gateway Airport, the former Barnstable County Fire Training Academy, and elsewhere — are interacting with one another in groundwater.

This week, the House and Senate passed a bill that says come January 1, 2027, no firefighting turnout gear can be sold if it’s made with “intentionally added” PFAS.

Barnstable County has set aside $7.8 million to clean up the so-called "forever chemicals" in groundwater stemming from the former Barnstable Fire and Rescue Training Academy.

Researchers from the Silent Spring Institute revealed this week that, among residents who lived in the community over a recent 10-year period, blood levels of PFHxS were more than three times higher than the median for the general population. Those researchers are now beginning the work of understanding the link between PFAS exposure in drinking water and specific health effects.

“The firefighting foam … was mostly used in the 70s and 80s, and one additional application in 1997 at the base,” said Heidi Pickard. “This is decades later that you're still seeing high levels in the fish.”

The feds could eventually release rules limiting the use of treated sludge as fertilizer, meaning more towns will be trying to dispose of theirs. The team at the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center call this scenario, "Sludgement Day."

Attorneys estimate that more than 100 who’ve already joined the case were exposed to the so-called “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, thyroid diseases, fertility issues and more while working with firefighting foam on or around Joint Base Cape Cod.

Barnstable County will install more monitoring wells in Hyannis this month to continue mapping PFAS groundwater contamination stemming from the former fire training academy.