Warminster Gets $5M To Remove PFAs From Water

WARMINSTER, PA — The state will provide a total of $8 million in grants to remove contamination of harmful substances, including PFAS, from the water in the Warminster, Horsham and Warrington areas, authorities announced Tuesday.

Warminster received a $5 million grant and Warrington Township received a $3 million grant.

Governor Tom Wolf announced the approval of funding through the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA). The grants are aimed to remove perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl detected in local water sources.

“Access to safe drinking water is one of the fundamental rights of every Pennsylvanian,” Governor Wolf said. “This funding will provide clean and safe water for residents, and will help ensure the public health of these communities in Bucks County in the years ahead. Through the PFAS Action Team, we will continue addressing this serious issue across Pennsylvania.”

PFAS are man-made chemicals that have been used to make cookware, carpets, clothing, fabrics for furniture, paper packaging for food, and other materials that are resistant to water, grease, or stains. They are also used in firefighting foams and in a number of industrial processes.

The CFA board approved a $5 million grant for the Warminster Municipal Authority through the H20 PA program. WMA owns and operates the water supply and distribution system that serves Warminster Township, Ivyland Borough, and Warwick Township.

Thirteen WMA wells have been contaminated by PFAS as a result of the use of firefighting foam at military bases in the area. The project will install treatment systems that will allow the wells to be placed back in service as a water supply source, state officials said.

The board also approved a $3 million grant through the H20 PA program for Warrington Township. That money will go to renovate four groundwater wells in the township contaminated by PFAS, also there as a result of the use of firefighting foam.

The township will equip the wells with ion exchange and granular activated carbon treatment systems to reduce contaminants to a “non-detect” level, state officials said.

“Sites in southeast Pennsylvania, and Bucks County, in particular, have been affected by PFAS contamination in Pennsylvania,” said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell, who chairs the PFAS Action Team that was founded in September. “The Action Team will be continuing to pursue solutions to addressing existing contamination and preventing new contamination.”