PHILLIPSBURG — More than a dozen residents attended the Phillipsburg town hall on Sept. 19 to learn developments in the process of removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS or “forever chemicals”) from the village water supply.
Rebecca Scarbraugh and Madeline Prichett represented Wessler Engineering, preparing the project. They told the audience the first phase of the survey was finished and the second phase would follow when the crops are removed from the fields where the pipeline will be installed to carry water from the city of Union.
They explained that purchasing water from Union, which has no contamination, is the most cost-effective in the long run. The pipeline will run along Phillipsburg-Union Road from the edge of Union’s water system (at Haber Road) to a new water tower at the eastern edge of the village.
A new tower is needed not only because of the cost of the extra pipe to the existing tower but also, Mike Myers, a consultant with the village water department, pointed out, “That tower is 75 years old.”
The village officials said the water will come into the village and then be distributed through the existing infrastructure just as it is now, so there will be no hook-up fees. A booster station along the road will maintain the water pressure.
Grants should finance most of the project, but officials could not promise no more increases in water fees. But they said these would be gradual and not “anything like $200.”
Water Board Member Jackie Wysong said, “We live here and pay the same water bills you do. It behooves us to get the costs as low as possible.”
The design phase should be finished by spring, and the project is estimated to be completed in about two years.
Many worried that the contamination would continue to increase during that time or the water would become unsafe in the future. Scarbraugh said that was a question for the EPA, and Phillipsburg officials said it might be possible to hold a similar town hall with an EPA official.
Some residents questioned why other options, such as reverse osmosis, were not tried. Phillipsburg officials and the Wessler representatives explained that other options were less cost-effective in the long run and involved the problem of disposing of the chemicals.
One suggestion was to let the residents put in their own filters in their houses, but Wysong said the EPA would not accept this. Similarly, methods of filtering the village water at the wells presents problems of disposing of the waste.
One resident asked what would happen if the village just refused to remove the chemicals.
Mayor Shawna Newsom replied that the village would be fined heavily.
“We couldn’t afford that, and we cannot operate in the red. The county or state would come in and take over the town. As mayor of this town, I am not going to let that happen.”
She invited residents to attend the meetings of the Water Board on the second Thursday of each month or the council meetings on the third and sometimes the first Tuesday of each month.
