These Upper Bucks homes are still using PFAS-tainted wells. That will soon change

Jodi Cutaiar of West Rockhill stood outside the Perkasie Regional Authority office, tears of relief welling in her eyes.

She and 52 neighbors in East and West Rockhill will soon not have to deal with PFAS-tainted well water, thanks to a $3.68 million Infrastructure Jobs Act grant.

Cutaiar said she's been using bottled water for family, friends, guests and pets for years. The family would lug the cases up from their basement as they needed them, just to avoid using their well water.

"I don't know how you sum up six years in five minutes," she said as she thanked U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who helped secure the grant that will pay for the installation of pipes to connect homeowners to the safer public drinking water supply.

The project will extend public water service to homes currently using private wells that are contaminated by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly used in firefighting foam and consumer product coatings.

How did PFAS get in the drinking water in Upper Bucks County?

Some residents believe PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, found their way into private wells after they were used to battle a massive tire fire in the region in the late 1980s. But, Nicholas Fretz, manager of the water authority, said the state Department of Environmental Protection has yet to determine that.

More: DEP eyes 1986 fire as potential cause of Rockhill water contamination

Nevertheless, the chemicals have been found in residents' drinking water.

Wells in East and West Rockhill were tested in 2017 and their levels came back much higher than the DEP's allowable limites for PFAS, Fretz said. Water provided through the authority's five wells have levels within those safety limits.

Casey said "the public has the right to pure air and clean water," and he was happy to work with PennVest, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority to provide the grant. PennVest finances clean water projects in the state.

More: Pennsylvania earmarks $1.6 million for PFAS cancer study

Casey's office said the grant is in addition to $266 million that he and fellow U.S. Sen. John Fetterman announced in April to fund clean-water projects throughout the state including PFAS and lead removal.

Cutaiar said she was delighted when she heard connections to the public water supply will be made this summer and fall. Fretz said he hopes the project will be completed by year's end.

"It's a dream come true. I now feel I can move on with my life," she said.

Stephanie Wein, an advocate with the environmental protection group Penn Environment, said she too was thrilled that efforts to win the grant would help families like Cutaiar's. "That's why measures like this are so important," she said.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Upper Bucks homes with contaminated wells to get public water service