WESTFIELD—The city will be holding its second public forum on the state of Westfield’s water later this month.
Mayor Brian Sullivan announced that the public informational forum will occur on Sept. 27 at 6 p.m., in city council chambers at city hall on Court Street. The session will include several different agencies and departments focused on the matter of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) that have been found in the city’s water supply, which caused two of the city’s wells to be taken offline in January 2016.
Residents fill the city council chambers, flowing out through the exits, during the April water public forum. (WNG file photo)
According to Sullivan, the meeting will include members of the Air National Guard, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), as well as representatives from the city.
According to Sullivan, the several different guests will be providing residents with updates on their respective projects. For the Air National Guard, it will be related to testing happening on the Barnes Air National Guard base related to PFCs; for MassDEP, it will be related to the private well testing occurring within Westfield; for the city, it will be related to the water filtration efforts, including the construction of the water treatment facility expected on Owen District Road.
In addition to these entities, Sullivan said that DPH will also be at the session and will address potential health concerns and effects.
This public forum is the second such forum that the city will hold, with the first occurring in April of this year. The last meeting drew many residents, with The Westfield News reporting that attendees “were lined outside the two entrances to the city council chambers at city hall.”
It was previously said that the city would be holding three public forums on the status of the water, after concerns over PFC levels in the city’s water supply in some wells was beyond the Environmental Protection Agency’s lifetime advisory limit and wells seven and eight were taken offline.
