Last Friday the Westfield News published a front page article covering the City Council Finance Committee approval of $442,850 for the DPW Water Division.
What is important to note is the $26k appropriation for ground water testing off Cabot Rd. Tonight the Finance Committee will report the full package out of Committee and be presented for a vote before the full Council.
These funds will be used for Geosphere to complete a ground water assessment of the Cabot Rd/Turnpike Industrial Rd proposed industrial park. What’s important to note is that while I was on Finance, we requested the Geosphere report from the mid 1990’s which initially identified this site. This proposed park just received MEPA certification to proceed.
This location is the only area left on the northside that has the potential for 2+ million gallons per day output and most importantly is PFAS free water. A couple months ago I presented Mass DEP information about this site, while in Boston with Councilor Surprise, former Councilor O’Connell, Kristen Mello, Chris Clark, and Karen Pighetti. Shortly there-after I also provided it to our Water Commissioners. This information included the dangers of contamination from the Twiss St. landfill. It detailed how it is physically impossible to draw enough water on Cabot Rd to reverse the flow and draw contamination (potential) north. The real experts determined this and any claims that it could are unfounded.
We need to be mindful that decision made, are only as good as the information they are based on. One thing I discovered early on is when items are presented to the Council or Boards/Commissions, they are structured with information tailored to obtain the desired outcome. It is imperative that residents remain involved. Collectively we need to continue questioning and examining proposals. This is taking place after we have already committed to costly GAC filtration, of some of the most contaminated ground water in the country. Only after Geosphere finishes their testing will we finally have a proper analysis of this potentially critical water resource site.
Here is an excerpt from my 4/2/18 post on the water:
On Tuesday the meeting was cut short and the possibility of installing a new Well in the vicinity of Root Rd. did not get asked. Mass DEP has indicated that the City has never consulted with them on the installation of a new Well. The Root Rd area is within the high yield portion of the Barnes Aquifer. The water runs south towards the Westfield River. While attending the WRAFT (Westfield Residents Advocating For Themselves) event “Aquifer Hour” with Dr. Bob Newton, he indicated a geological formation that would essentially block the PFAS contamination from spreading west (to this area.) Currently an organic farm is drawing water from the aquifer. They had to go through extensive water testing to obtain their certification. The water is clean and safe in this area.
We should be exploring the possibility of at least one new Well outside of the contamination zone. Root Rd and Summit Lock Rd have a water main that can handle 1.728 million gallons per day. With a total cost of $46.8 million to build and operate these 2 filtration systems, we need to consider alternatives. DPW Director Billips indicated at Finance they have not explored alternatives. He also stated “We have a problem we can fix, let’s fix it” and “I’m not looking at getting reimbursed.” End Excerpt…
Thankfully action is being taken to determine the viability before we lose this potentially critical resource. If viable it could eliminate our dependence on Wells 7&8 and reduce the use of less polluted Wells 1&2. If we were to permanently remove one of the existing Wells from the system we could avoid additional regulation by the Mass DEP Water Management Act.
Tonight I will be proud to support this expenditure and I anxiously await the findings of the $26k question.
Your At Large City Councilor,
Matt Emmershy
