Plainfield Township officials contend the township’s public water system is safe to drink — period.
Tests on many private wells in the township have shown high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances called PFAS, (also called perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs) which have made them unsafe to use without the proper whole house filters.
Officials are awaiting test results on additional wells.
At the same time, the township’s municipal water system has been tested regularly and has shown trace amounts of the substances in its system, according to township officials.
Rick Solle, director of public services for the township, told the township board and residents at the Nov. 13 board meeting that the township’s water does test positive for minute amounts of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, but those levels are well below what has been determined safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Superintendent Cameron VanWyngarden said the water from the township’s municipal water system meets and exceeds the water standards of the state and the EPA.
Township resident Travis Brown says he has the EPA documents to show the township’s testing results "are a work of fiction."
VanWyngarden said he is not sure if Brown understands the EPA information he is reading.
The township, he said, stands by its test results and conclusions.
The best way to rid of PFAS from the township’s water system, he said, would be to find new water wells that haven’t been contaminated.