PFAS contamination 'could be worse,' but Henderson cleanup will take years

HENDERSON, Ky. — Members of the city of Henderson's PFAS Working Group got a crash course in geology in its meeting Monday, as the group of city leaders and concerned citizens continue to learn more about the chemicals that have contaminated groundwater in the areas of Shamrock Technologies facilities.

Tony Hatton, a geologist and the commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, spoke to the group via conference call. Hatton said samples taken at Shamrock's Community Drive site indicated extremely high levels of per- and polyfloroalkyl substances — in the area of 345 million parts per trillion (about 3%) contamination.

"I have not seen anything contaminate groundwater as readily as PFAS materials do," Hatton said. "It's a very high concentration."

However, he said, groundwater contamination outside the Shamrock facilities is less of a concern because of the unique geological traits of this area. Hatton cited the proximity of the Ohio River, which acts as a sink for groundwater to move toward the river and away from densely populated areas, as well as the abundance of tightly packed clay dirt in the region which does not allow groundwater to move through it easily.

"It could be a lot worse," he said. "The geology has not allowed it to spread as much as it could have in some other places."

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Hatton said samples from wells in a one-mile radius of the Community Drive site showed only trace amounts of PFAS. So far, he said, there is no evidence that anyone was consuming or being exposed to groundwater with high concentrations of PFAS.

"If we discovered that someone had consumed that water, I assure you, we would be having a much different conversation," Hatton said. "That is obviously our biggest concern."

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Holding tanks from Shamrock's sites and soil surrounding them have already been removed as an initial step in the remediation process. Those materials were shipped to a site in Port Arthur, Texas, that holds environmental waste and hazardous materials.

The greater concern is not immediate, Hatton said, but what the the groundwater will look looks like in 15 or 20 years. He likened removing the source of contamination to "chopping off the head of the snake" but warned that it would take a much longer amount of time to deal with the overall problem. Hatton said there is also a risk of the contamination being "forgotten about" in the future, at which point people or businesses may move to the area and risk exposure.

"Groundwater is not going to be cleaned up in a short time," he said. "I want to be honest about that. This is a very tall order. It will take many years to fix this. Yes, we have to take action now. We also have to have some institutionalized controls to mitigate problems in the future."

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Hatton said he anticipates the second phase of the cleanup project will begin in January or February at Shamrock's Community Drive and Industrial Park sites. The third site, at McKinley Street, he said, is much less affected.

In another presentation, Missy Vanderpool, executive director of Henderson Economic Development, told the group what she had learned about Project Scale, the business venture that ruled out the city as a site because of PFAS contamination. She also explained the process behind Henderson being eliminated as a site by Project Scale.

"We didn't 'lose' that business," Vanderpool said. "We average 50 to 75 requests per year (to evaluate the community). Sometimes we're one of 1200 sites. That process is to be eliminated. Those companies are looking to minimize the number of communities in which their business could fit."

Project Scale's product was to be farm-raised fish. Vanderpool said Project Scale's concerns about PFAS were very specific to that industry, because its leadership feared business competitors would use it against the startup.

This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: PFAS in Henderson: Cleanup will take years, environmental leader says