A Palmerton woman has voiced safety concerns after contaminates were once again found in the borough’s drinking water.

Kristine Keblish, who lives in the 500 block of Lafayette Avenue, expressed her uneasiness with the situation to borough council on Thursday.

Keblish discussed PFAS, which are often called ‘forever chemicals’ since they do not break down in the environment.

“It’s been rising,” Keblish said. “I’ve been keeping track of the numbers.”

Keblish asked council if there was a plan to remedy the situation.

Borough Manager Autumn Canfield said the Palmerton Municipal Authority has been working with DEP, and that they started testing in January.

She said DEP calculates based on the average of four quarters, so its first violation was issued for the second quarter of 2024, and added they just issued a notice of the exceedance for the third quarter at the end of August.

Canfield said the borough is required to test for two PFAS, PFOA and PFOS.

She said DEP has told the borough it has to do a feasibility study, and added the borough is working on a proposal to do a study in the most fiscally responsible way.

“We are working through the Technical Assistance Program which is no cost,” Canfield said. “We are waiting for the formal proposal from the DEP consultant for consideration by the Municipal Authority.

However, Canfield cautioned they have said it will be a long process.

Keblish said “We want to raise our children in a community where we have fresh air and fresh water.”

Keblish noted that Palmerton takes the seventh position since first being required to test for PFAs in the state of Pennsylvania, in communities over 350 residents.

Keblish told council there is a system known as the Brondell Coral 3-Stage under-the sink-water filter to eliminate the two PFAs found in the water. The system costs a little under $200.

She suggested the borough to offer a reimbursement to residents who wish to purchase the system for their homes.

Results

In August, the borough’s water system most recently violated a drinking water standard after the Palmerton Municipal Authority had levels of PFOS and PFOA above drinking water standards.

PFOS and PFOA are chemicals that are part of a larger group referred to as perfluoroalkyl substances. These are human-made chemicals, and do not occur naturally in the environment. They have been used to make items that are resistant to water, grease, or stains such as cookware, carpets, and packaging.

PFAS often shows up on items such as wild caught fish, dust particles, food that was packaged in different types of containers (such as popcorn), cleaning products, stain resistant carpet, water repellent clothing, nonstick cookware, fast food wrappers, pizza boxes, candy wrappers, and even certain plastic containers you drink from. They are also used in industrial processes and in firefighting foams.

Since these substances are resistant to heat, water, and oil they persist in the environment and in the human body. Due to the prevalence of PFAS in consumer products, it is likely that most people have been exposed to these substances through other sources besides drinking water.

The standard for PFOS is 18 parts per trillion, and for PFOA is 14 parts per trillion. The PFOS at Entry Point 102 sample date results were found at a level of 48.3ng/L in the drinking water for the first quarter, 49.3ng/L in the second quarter, and 39.7ng/L for the third quarter.

The PFOA at Entry Point 102 sample date results were found at a level of 30.7ng/L for the first quarter, 33.9ng/L for the second quarter, and 34.5ng/L for the third quarter. The 2024 second Quarter Running Annual Average at Entry Point 102 for PFOS is 24ng/L and PFOA is 16ng/L.

The Palmerton Municipal Authority sent out letters to homeowners on June 3 to make them aware of numbers higher than recommended levels.

The Municipal Authority said it routinely monitors for drinking water contaminants, and that testing results they received on May 3 show that their system exceeds the standard, or maximum contaminant level for PFOS and PFOA.

DEP requirements

Beginning in January 2024, water systems servicing over 350 customers were required by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to start initial compliance monitoring for two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS.

The standard for PFOS is 18 parts per trillion and for PFOA is 14 parts per trillion. PFOS were found at a level of 48.3 parts per trillion on Feb. 14, and 49.3 on April 24 in the drinking water.

In addition, PFOA were found at a level of 30.7 parts per trillion on Feb. 14 and 33.9 on April 24 in the drinking water.

The second quarter average is 34 parts per trillion for PFOS and 16 for PFOAs.

Homeowners were told it wasn’t an immediate risk, and that if had been, they would have been notified immediately.

Colleen Connolly, DEP spokeswoman, said the Palmerton Municipal Authority is required by DEP to issue to residents as a result of quarterly monitoring from entry point 102 of its water treatment plant that indicated the running annual averages for PFOS and PFOA were exceeding their respective maximum contaminant levels

She said it was important to note that the public notice deals specifically with PFOS and PFOA, and that Palmerton was currently monitoring annually for lead and copper and was in compliance with those requirements.

The Palmerton Municipal Authority serves about 2,200 customers.