Hampton Bays Water District Speaks On Wells Closure

HAMPTON BAYS, NY — The Hampton Bays Water District set to clarify Wednesday what led to the closure of two of its wells.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has said that perfluorinated compounds were found nearby and that officials notified the Hampton Bays Fire District on August 21 that the state was designating the site a potential state superfund, or "P" site.

The NYSDEC said it will conduct an investigation of the site "in the event that the fire district fails to investigate if the property is the source of PFOS" — or perfluorooctanesulfonic acid — "found in nearby public supply wells."

According to Hampton Bays Water District Superintendent Robert King, last year, the district was testing, something it has been required by law to do since 2013, and found a "contamination level of 73 parts per trillion."

King explained that standards had been lowered, leading to the district's decision to embark upon the testing. Although they were not required to close the well, that well was subsequently closed due to the contamination.

"We did not have to do this; we did it on our own," he said.

The district continued to monitor the wells and in June, did another sample from a second well in the same well field that "showed a higher contamination," King said, adding that the water district voluntarily closed that well, also.

"This has been going on," King said. "This didn't just happen."

King said the Hampton Bays Water District sent out notification to residents but if some did not receive it, it was out of the district's control. King said he had proof, which was sent to the NYS Board of Health, to indicate that the notification was sent to all impacted residents.

Next steps, King said, involve meeting with the Southampton Town board, which must approve expenditure of water district funds to put in a carbon filtration system.

If the funds are approved, the other well will be shut off in the field and engineers will design the carbon filtration system, King said; the system will be installed over the winter and be ready for next year's summer season.

The system is only meant for the demands of the summer months and for fire flow, King said.

King pointed out that the DEC has not yet tested the property to determine if it is, in fact, a source of contamination.

The DEC responded by email: "DEC is currently confirming that the fire district does not plan to undertake a site characterization investigation and is making preparations for the state to do so this fall," the statement read.

In an effort to identify water supplies potentially impacted by perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, beginning in June, 2016, the DEC mailed surveys to more than 2,500 potential users of PFCs, which included select businesses, fire departments, airports, bulk storage facilities and Department of Defense/military bases in New York State, the DEC said.

The survey was intended to begin to identify facilities where perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and PFOS may currently exist, or had formerly been, used, stored, manufactured, disposed of, or released, the DEC said.

"Based on the results, the DEC and Department of Health staff from the state’s water quality rapid response team efforts have mapped all facilities where affirmative responses were received to assess public or private water supplies within one half mile of the facility and in need of further investigation," the DEC said. "The vast majority of those facilities responding in the affirmative were not located within one half mile of a water supply well. However, the state is focusing further investigations at certain sites including the Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Suffolk County firematics, and the Hampton Bays fire district site."

Patch courtesy photo.