Polluted Water Pumped Into Creek In Horsham: Report

Water contaminated with chemicals from the Horsham Air Guard Station is being pumped into Park Creek without filtration, according to a report.

The Bucks County Courier Times reports that the Park Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, operated by the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority, does not have equipment necessary to treat perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), the harmful chemicals which have contaminated the local water supply.

As a result, authorities can only dilute the chemicals before dumping them into Park Creek, the report states.

About 921,000 gallons were reportedly discharged from the plant on average per day in 2015, with about 48,700 of those gallons coming from the station.

The water and sewer authority has since authorized the station to install its own filtration system on the base, according to the report.

Officials note that it is of the highest importance to completely remove the chemicals from the water because they are not biodegradable.

The full extent of the environmental impact of the chemical leak is unclear.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international group focused on policy, commissioned a study that showed that PFOS is moderately toxic to aquatic organisms like fish but highly toxic to other organisms, like honey bees.

The Horsham Safe Water Coalition, a community organization that lobbied for the election of candidates last fall that it thought would best address water safety, says that PFOA and PFOS may cause cancer in humans. The organization cites studies from the American Cancer Society that indicate the long-term damage these chemicals do to both humans and the environment.

A cancer study has since been commissioned by the government to investigate the possible health impact of the chemicals on humans.

A total of 16 wells in the Horsham area have been closed, officials said.