The City Council is poised to vote on the second reading of a $13 million bond. This is the same bond that was rejected on March 15th. Our water situation has exposed some of the inner workings and politics at play. When this bond was first presented to the Council, there was very little information provided. The Finance Committee received a 5 line breakdown and was supplied with explanations of the projects or associated costs. It was not until the bond was voted down that information started flowing.
The City Solicitor and Treasurer have both provided very valuable information on the bond and our water issues. Contrary to statements made by the Mayor and DPW, they have not provided information despite repeated requests. Previously I made the statement that “Transparency is dead,” it is sad that we have reached this point.
Councilor questions should be answered until the Councilor is satisfied. For those coming before the Council to simply stop answering questions and decide ‘that Councilors have enough information,’ is simply unacceptable. This is where politics comes in to play. Yesterday the Mayor and DPW Director released a very inconsistent press release to make their case. Why is it that information, that has been requested for weeks is released to the press, instead of the Councilor’s who requested the information? Ask yourself why they still have never answered Councilor’s directly, but have engaged in a media blitz two days before the vote. But remember they say politics does not exist.
Whenever I have gone public with information is a result of the response, or lack there of, that I received. I would much rather call or email a City official or employee and work with them, instead of going public and trying to compel them to cooperate. Unfortunately, what we have is a local government that is not accustomed to being asked questions and being expected to provide concise answers.
This all began at the Finance Committee review of the $13 Million bond. Since that time many things have changed. For instance, it was stated that the GAC (Granular Activated Carbon) would need to be changed out annually for Wells 7&8. Based off the latest calculations of 8,900 filter beds, it appears we are looking at millions in additional annual operating expenses. The much lesser polluted Wells 1&2 are budgeted for $536k in annual operating expenses. Yet Wells 7&8 which are testing roughly 10X more polluted, are only budgeting $160k. If my questions were answered, we would have a greater idea of actual operating expenses. Presently water bills will need to be increased another 20-40% for operational expenses once these filtration systems are online. This would be on top of the compounded 10% (’17), 10%, (’18), 10% (’19) water increases that have already been approved AND the 20-40% needed for annual maintenance at the artificially low estimates. Once they are built, it is too late to determine our operational expenses and best course of action.
It was previously stated that we have not explored any other options. That our only option is to filter these contaminated Wells. Since then I uncovered a Geosphere exploration of the northside which was concluded in 1996. It determined that we could produce roughly 2 million gallons per day from the Cabot Rd parcel the City owns and 500k gallons from the Root Rd/Medeiros Way area. The issue with the Cabot Rd parcel is the City is full steam ahead with creating an additional industrial park, over our last high yield and chemical free portion of the aquifer. Neighbors have wells in the 400-500’ range and they are reporting clean water. The misinformation campaign has included that the site is polluted, or that it is not over the aquifer. The Geosphere report has not been furnished to the Council. Contrary to statements made by DPW, this would not change us from Water Management Act ‘registration’ to a ‘permit’. I have confirmed this with Mass DEP and we are exempt due to our dire situation with the PFAS contamination.
Another option that has come to light is purchasing water from Holyoke. I have spoken with Holyoke Water Works and Tighe and Bond. Yesterday Director Billips released the exploration report from Tighe and Bond. It was previously stated that there would be issues with Holyoke fluoridation and running lines from the top of 202. The report confirms that the lines are already in the ground and that there is a 20” main under North Rd coming from Tighe Carmody reservoir. This is a project that was a break even when a filter for Wells 7&8 was less than $2 million a year and a half ago. With Wells 7&8 now projected at $7 million and Wells 1&2 at $9 million. This is before we put a shovel in the ground, along with GAC replacement running in to the millions. I think it is more important than ever that we evaluate all of our options. Holyoke has an incredible supply of clean water they want to sell. They are currently utilizing 40% of the 13 million gallons per day they can draw from the reservoir. They are wiling to obtain any permits necessary and have negotiated favorable rates.
Yesterday on WSKB Councilor Beltrandi refuted my parallel to the proposed Springfield interconnect, stating that the Mayor says it is only for emergency use. Previously Director Billips stated he wished to turn off Wells 5&6 and draw exclusively from Springfield. When I questioned the Mayor on this at the special Council meeting he stated that is incorrect. Yet yesterday the press release expresses his desire to regularly buy water from Springfield. Why is it acceptable to buy from Springfield and turn off PFAS free Wells, yet we can’t even consider buying from Holyoke for the northside at favorable rates?
Another very disturbing part of the Holyoke exploration report is that temporary filtration could have been in place in 1-2 weeks as of October 2016. We are now in May 2018 and the northside still does not have a PFAS free water source. This is not acceptable!!! The Mayor made the bold claim in his press release that there are no available sites for temporary filtration on Well #1, either City owned or private. I have knocked on doors on Holyoke Rd. and even referred Councilor Allie to speak with a resident who has offered a piece of land for temporary filtration. No one has ever contacted either of us to discuss the details of this property, or to speak with the resident.
Some have stated that we need to trust the professionals. I am not, nor do I claim to be a professional. However, I make it a point to thoroughly research issues and to reach out to true professionals. It was stated that our Water Commissioners have been handling this. What I find concerning is that Councilor Burns has stated he is learning a lot from everything I have been uncovering. Our Commissioners are Mayor appointed positions. They are residents of the City who expressed a desire to serve. Their decisions can only be as good as the information provided. The difference between the Council and the Commissioners is who appoints them. Councilors answer to the residents (voters), while the Commissioners answer to the Mayor. They are limited in how far they can push an issue. Councilors are not limited in their scope. We are all tasked with a common goal and asking questions or exploring alternatives when tens of millions are on the line, should not be shunned.
Another important factor that has been largely ignored is the level of contamination at Wells 7&8. These Wells currently sit next to the most contaminated ground and water. It is highly probable that without remediation like Councilor Surprise has addressed, the levels at Wells 7&8 will continue to rise until they balance out with the burn pit. The procedure the military has been actively using is referred to ‘pump and dump’. This procedure is being used at Otis on the cape and Pease in NH. What they do is they pump at the most contaminated site (7&8) and they run the water through a GAC filter and then proceed to inject the ‘clean’ water below the contamination level. This is incredibly expensive but it allows them to stop the plume from heading deeper and spreading. Essentially they are forcing the chemicals up and containing the plume. This also allows them to scrub the aquifer and wash their hands of the problem. The approach we are taking will require expensive GAC change outs for an indefinite period of time. Will we be spending this money on Wells 7&8, only for the military to take them over to perform pump and dump? It is certainly within the realm of possibilities. This would then leave us limping along with 2 wells, that with filtration will see a 20% reduction in water output.
The stakes are too high to approve this bond. A fellow Councilor stated last week that we need to do something. That in 10 years we may look back and realize we made the wrong choice. My response was that if we proceed with filtration that is certainly a possibility. However, if we buy from Holyoke or drill new wells on Cabot Rd. I do not see us looking back saying we should not have added the redundancy to our water system and provided safe and clean water in this manner. If we fully explore all our options while we have temporary filtration on Wells 1&2, and it leads back to filtering the four wells is our best option, I would fully support it. Until we give residents temporary filters and explore our options, I will not vote to stick residents with this bill.
Sincerely,
Matt Emmershy
City Councilor At-Large
413-250-5818
