Did we really vote to exclude accurate data from the record?
Last Wednesday the City Council took the extraordinary step of voting on whether to include accurate water data from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the report coming out of the Public Health and Safety (PHS) Committee. Councilors Onyski, Babinski, and Harris opposed including this information in an initial vote. The Council President called for a roll call vote and once again Councilors Onyski and Babinski opposed including these documents in the report.
The PHS Committee reported on the status of our water and filtration efforts on the northside. It was clearly stated this was being reported out on recorded video so residents would have accurate information. The problem is, it was anything but accurate.
Documents were provided stating Well 1 (Holyoke Rd) was taken offline in late summer ’18. Statements had been made that this took place in August, September, or October depending on the meeting or publication. This had been discussed at the Water Commission, DPW Commission, PHS, and in the Westfield News. What I found was that Well 1 was still pumping unfiltered PFAS contaminated water (below the current legal limit) and we were NOT solely utilizing the temporary filter at Well 2 (Union St) for northside water until January ‘19. Mass DEP has proposed reducing the current legal limit from 70ppt to 20ppt as science emerges on its harmful health effects. Well 1 has regularly tested in excess of the proposed legal limit.
I found that the City reported to Mass DEP that in November ’18 88% of the water pumped was from Well 1 totaled almost 9M gallons. In December ’18 38% of the water pumped came from Well 1 totaling .5M gallons. The Director has stated this is due to low demand at that time of year. I went back and looked at historical figures for northside pumping and these figures are short TENS of millions of gallons of water.
So where is the water coming from? It was stated repeatedly that water from the southside could not be pushed north. However, as of recently, DPW has been stating they can push ‘small’ amounts of water north at low demand times. The Director confirmed yesterday that this water came from the southside.
Unfortunately the first 50 minutes of our Council meeting was not recorded and some discussion was lost. I chose to wait to release these numbers as I was still awaiting ’19 numbers. However, I could not sit back and let such erroneous information be stated as fact for the record. It was stated that I was making accusations and assumptions. I proceeded to provide the full Council with a copy of the Official records request and supporting documents from Mass DEP. It was stated that I should have presented these numbers to the DPW. These are numbers that the DPW provided Mass DEP, why would I need to provide them with their own numbers?
The amount of conflicting information does not ease the hearts and minds of residents. The facts should be made public and detail the steps being taken to rectify the issue. Having an official City recording of PHS and all other Committees would assist in verification and badly needed transparency. My motion to record all committee meetings has made its way to the L&O committee after being in Government Relations and will hopefully be coming out shortly for a vote.
I would encourage all residents to review the first 23 minute portion of the meeting that was recorded and to review the appropriate documents. The recording can be found here: https://vimeo.com/340719876
In the article published yesterday Councilor Babinski was quoted as saying “You have to have faith that these people aren’t sitting on their knees.” To that I say trust but verify. As I have indicated to Director Billips, they have been tasked with handling an immensely complex problem. I do not envy the position of the Director.
When it comes to issues like water and resident’s safety, the details matter. I take exception to what happened and that there is any attempt to question my integrity or intentions. This includes comments and actions taken by other Councilors. This should serve as a reminder that all Councilor’s are elected to represent the residents. Our job is to question things and objectively look at them. We need to make decisions that are in the best interests of residents and not based upon allegiances.
Sincerely,
Matt Emmershy
City Councilor At-Large
413-250-5818
Facebook.com/MEmmershy
