WESTFIELD—As questions about Westfield’s water and the Barnes aquifer continue, a group of concerned citizens has emerged and will be holding their first public meeting next week.
Westfield Residences Advocating For Themselves (WRAFT) will be holding a public meeting and informational session on Thursday, May 25, at Santorini’s Pizzeria on Southampton Road, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. At the meeting, members will provide attendees with information about the contamination of water in Westfield and a description of the group’s efforts.
“It will be an introduction of who we are, a description of the current actions we are involved it, what people can do to help,” Kristen Mello, founding WRAFT member, said.
“It’s mostly about community education and helping them feel comfortable with who we are and why we’re doing this,” she added.
Members of WRAFT, along with members of the Toxic Action Center, while at the 30th Annual Local Environmental Action Conference, at Northeastern University, March 5. From left to right: Shaina Kasper, Vermont State Director, Toxics Action Center; Alina Davledzarova, WRAFT; Kristen Mello, WRAFT; Gail Bean, WRAFT; Kelsey Whiting-Jones, Western Massachusetts and Connecticut Community Organizer, Toxics Action Center
Among the information that will be put out by members of WRAFT will be handouts on perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), the alleged risks of crumb rubber to ground water, as well as petitions for blood testing and to prohibit the use of crumb rubber, Mello said.
Regarding PFCs, two of the city’s wells were taken offline during the summer last year, when they were found to have levels of PFCs within its water that was beyond an Environmental Protection Agency lifetime advisory. Since then, concerns over the water and the possible connection to Barnes Air National Guard’s firefighting foam being a possible source of the PFCs have been addressed in a number of meetings and discussions throughout a variety of city departments. And most recently city officials, members of the National Guard and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection began working together to resolve the issue.
As for crumb rubber use, WRAFT members have questioned the use of the material under artificial turf fields and its alleged potential impact on the city’s water. They have addressed the use with the Westfield Department of Health at Board of Health meetings, as well as with Westfield City Council through the council’s natural resources committee. Related to this is the petition they are attempting to gain signatures for that relates to prohibiting the use of crumb rubber, according to Mello.
Finally, Mello previously started an online petition requesting blood testing of residents for potential PFC contamination levels. According to a previous article from The Westfield News about the online petition, Mello said, “The contaminated wells were taken offline but before that I drank this water for 30 years…We deserve to know what our exposure is.”
Mello said that information from WRAFT will be discussed until 8 p.m., which will then allow time for others to ask questions or share their own concerns with members until the scheduled end time.
