WESTFIELD—A community group concerned with the state of Westfield water is continuing its work on petitions to get blood testing for residents exposed to chemical compounds in the city’s water.
The community group Westfield Residents Advocating For Themselves (WRAFT) has created petitions in order to get blood testing and biomonitoring for residents who have had a possible exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as perfluorinated carbons (PFCs), through the city’s public water supply wells. They are seeking the testing through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR).
“Westfield is a small place and we really need some representation,” Kristen Mello, WRAFT member, said. “All the signatures we can get, that would be great.”
One petition is expected to be sent to a state agency today and WRAFT is also working on securing additional signatures for a second petition that will be sent to elected officials, with work on the latter happening through February.
Mello said that the first petition, which is going to Marc Nascarella, Director of MDPH’s Environmental Toxicology Program, and the Community Assessment Program, which is part of a federal-state cooperative agreement, is expected to be sent by certified mail Friday afternoon.
From the Change.org version of the petition, the group wrote:
We ask that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Environmental Health agree to take on this project under the cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, and help our City’s residents understand what their level of exposure has been, and whether or not any significant patterns in health outcomes exist… Please help the residents of Westfield, Massachusetts accurately characterize their exposure and their risk with blood testing for PFAS.”
The petition first began in March and since then has gathered over 400 signatures both on paper and online.
The second petition, according to Mello, is still gathering signatures and is expected to go to elected officials, including Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Richard Neal and Gov. Charlie Baker.
“This one is for politicians that stand on national stage to please advocate to the ATSDR for activity in Westfield,” Mello said.
According to Mello, WRAFT has not heard from politicians on that level yet but is aware of factors that may be prohibiting such action.
“If we can keep our calm, and keep our message out there, then hopefully something can be done,” Mello said. “But there are a lot of contaminated communities and we need to take our place in line.”
Mello said that WRAFT members will be at various shopping locations in Westfield on Tuesdays and Saturdays in December, in an attempt to both gather more signatures for the petition, as well as provide educational materials and other information to those interested. Then, the petition is expected to be sent out Feb. 4, which Mello said is World Cancer Day.
The petition so far has over 230 signatures, according to Mello.
If you would like to sign the petition online, you may also visit their ActionNetwork.org site for more information on how. And if you would like to be part of the now over 20 members of WRAFT, you can find more information on their Facebook page.
