The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has a plan for Rockhill area residents affected by drinking water contamination.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has a plan for Rockhill area residents affected by drinking water contamination.
Last year, Moyer’s well was one of 12 in the area found to be contaminated by perfluorinated chemicals above a safety level put forth by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Moyer was joined by about 50 other attendees at the meeting, which was an opportunity for residents to officially comment on a plan the DEP released this spring.
The department plans to spend $96,000 to install carbon filtration systems on affected homes and maintain them for one year.
Residents also expressed concerns with potential health effects from their prior exposure to the chemicals.
He said he was confident the authority could work with the DEP to extend public water mains to the twelve affected homes for less than $2 million.
Those interested in making a comment before the deadline can do so by emailing lharper@pa.gov or by writing the DEP’s regional offices at 2 E. Main St., Norristown, 19401.
The department could modify its proposal based on the comments, and must at least respond to the concerns, officials said.
During an informal part of the meeting, DEP officials also gave a brief update on the department’s investigation of the contamination and its next steps.

Sawyer Air Force Base, you can find links to those stories below.
Six years ago, a DEQ employee presented a 93-page report to a former DEQ director, warning of the PFAS contamination in the Great Lakes and other areas around Michigan.
Not too long after that report was issued, the DEQ performed state-wide groundwater testing; one of the suggestion listed in the 93-page report.
In our previous report, Local 3 reached out to the DEQ for a statement and was told that the department was supervising all testing being done by the U.S. Air Force at K.I.
Sawyer, however, they did not comment on the rising PFAS contamination across the state.
We have also reached out to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for an updated statement.
At this time, there are 31 confirmed PFAS sites in Michigan; two in the Upper Peninsula.
This is an increase from the 29 confirmed sites in May, when our previous report aired.
To see a map of confirmed PFAS sites and areas that have been tested for PFAS, click here.
Find more information on confirmed PFAS contamination in the Upper Peninsula below.

A new law aimed at reducing groundwater contamination was signed into law Tuesday by Gov.
Sununu said the law, which was passed with bipartisan support, is about making sure the problems of today don’t become the crises of the future.
"Every time we turn on the faucet and hand our kids a glass of water, we are really trusting that our government did our job and that water is safe to give to our kids," Sununu said.
The law is aimed at four compounds such as perfluorooctanoic acid and other perfluorinated compounds that have been detected in New Hampshire groundwater.
The compounds have been found in soil and water in parts of the state.
"The health impacts are newly being discovered, so it’s an evolving process, and we’re committed at the department and certainly as a state to look at the best science available," said Robert Scott, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Services.
The law also gives the DES the authority to set standards for air emissions.
It allows the department to hire a toxicologist to help come up with safe standards for the chemicals by the end of the year.
"We’re not really changing law, really, we’re just saying to the DES, ‘Let’s make sure we have the right standard and the level that we have set is safe for the public,’" said Sen. Dan Innis, R-District 24.
Supporters of the law said one of its strengths is its built-in flexibility, so as the science evolves, so will the law.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Sinopec has halted drilling four wells in a gasfield near the city of Yulin in Shaanxi province, following a government investigation into water contamination in a village nearby, the company said via its official Weibo account on Sunday night.
The Yulin Environmental Protection Bureau said on June 21 that iron and manganese content exceeded the maximum level allowed for residential consumption in the village of Zhanggaotu near Yulin.
As a result, the city launched an investigation into emissions and waste dumping at three coal mines and Sinopec’s North China oil and gas subsidiary, the bureau said.
The bureau said the time that it planned to investigate how Sinopec disposed of liquid waste, mud and rock powders produced during the drilling process.
Sinopec’s gasfield on the border of Shaanxi province and Inner Mongolia has produced 3.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas since it started in 2005, Sinopec said.
(Reporting by Meng Meng and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

TASWATER is still trying to uncover the cause of a problem in Deloraine’s water treatment plant which has resulted in a boil water alert being issued.
TasWater’s general manager of service delivery Bennie Smith said the alert could not be lifted until the cause was found.
“Our water quality team is also testing Deloraine’s water network with water samples being analysed by our laboratory to assess if all the contaminants have now been flushed out of the system,” he said.
“Once this has been confirmed, along with the Department of Health being satisfied the treatment plant is operating correctly and that a re-occurrence of any shortcoming won’t happen again, the testing process will get under way to assess if the boil water alert can be brought to an end.
“I understand how inconvenient this is for our Deloraine customers and thank you for your patience.” The boil water alert has been in place since last Friday.
Residents have been advised to boil all water used for consumption, food preparation and teeth cleaning.

Foams used to fight a massive 1986 tire fire at Bergey’s Tires in West Rockhill are being eyed as a potential source of area water contamination.
1/4 Hide caption Angela Goodwin, of West Rockhill, has been using bottled water for over a year because of high numbers of PFAS in her well water that she thinks was contaminated by firefighting foam years ago.
But it is another substance that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is now investigating in dozens of nearby private drinking water wells: the unregulated chemicals PFOS and PFOA.
“The chief said the fire was too intense and the foam immediately dissolved.” PFOS and PFOA have been found in dozens of drinking water wells in the area, including in that of the Moyers, who live just 200 yards from where the blaze occurred.
One of the shuttered wells is only 100 feet from their property.
He was diagnosed just months after the wells were closed.
Although Perkasie’s water showed only low levels of PFOS and PFOA when last tested in 2016, which is not uncommon, Jameson spent $1,600 on a whole-house carbon filtration system to give her “peace of mind” that their water is chemical-free.
“It could be (linked) one day,” she said.
State records also show the DEP requested various documents from Bergey’s, including a full accounting of any hazardous substances stored at the site, any information the company has regarding the 1986 fire, and a sheet showing its assets and liabilities.
The company also had “no documentation concerning the use of (firefighting foam) by the U.S. Navy or others to respond to fires on the property.” David Budnick, chief financial officer at Bergey’s, said the same in response to questions from this news organization.

Coal burning produces many pollutants.
Pollution from coal – fired power plants lead to numerous respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular effects.
The main contributor to the particulate matter is coal fly ash, and minor are sulphate and nitrate Coal fly ash is the incombustible materials that is 20% of the collected coal – ash.
Fly ash can travel up to 40 – 50 km in the down wind direction.
A study conducted in USA found that the underground dumped ash (produced by coal – fired power plants) has contaminated ground water.
Pollution from coal – fired power plants comes from the emission of gases such as nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides into the atmosphere.
Many of the heavy metals released in the burning of coal are environmentally and biologically toxic elements, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, as well as radio isotopes.
Britain has built 30 gas fired power plants to replace coal powered plants.
"A 500 MW coal power plant produces 170 pounds of mercury per year Particulate matter emitted from coal plant has grave effects on public health A ton of fly ash can spread over up to 150,000 sq.
People who have seen the effects of Norochcolai power plant will not allow a power plant to be established in their areas.

Foams used to fight a massive 1986 tire fire at Bergey’s Tires in West Rockhill are being eyed as a potential source of area water contamination.
1/4 Hide caption Angela Goodwin, of West Rockhill, has been using bottled water for over a year because of high numbers of PFAS in her well water that she thinks was contaminated by firefighting foam years ago.
But it is another substance that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is now investigating in dozens of nearby private drinking water wells: the unregulated chemicals PFOS and PFOA.
“The chief said the fire was too intense and the foam immediately dissolved.” PFOS and PFOA have been found in dozens of drinking water wells in the area, including in that of the Moyers, who live just 200 yards from where the blaze occurred.
One of the shuttered wells is only 100 feet from their property.
He was diagnosed just months after the wells were closed.
Although Perkasie’s water showed only low levels of PFOS and PFOA when last tested in 2016, which is not uncommon, Jameson spent $1,600 on a whole-house carbon filtration system to give her “peace of mind” that their water is chemical-free.
“It could be (linked) one day,” she said.
State records also show the DEP requested various documents from Bergey’s, including a full accounting of any hazardous substances stored at the site, any information the company has regarding the 1986 fire, and a sheet showing its assets and liabilities.
The company also had “no documentation concerning the use of (firefighting foam) by the U.S. Navy or others to respond to fires on the property.” David Budnick, chief financial officer at Bergey’s, said the same in response to questions from this news organization.

Prieto said that she knew of six or seven classmates from Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida, who were also diagnosed with uncommon cancers when she was diagnosed but that she now knows of about 20 — all at about the same time.
The article reported that wells used to monitor groundwater contaminants at nearby Patrick Air Force Base showed levels of chemicals from military firefighting foam higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered safe.
The chemicals found in the groundwater wells at Patrick Air Force Base go by the acronyms PFOS and PFOA.
The EPA’s recommended limit for PFOS and PFOA is specific to drinking water, but the tests at Patrick Air Force Base involved groundwater at the base.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection told ABC News that drinking water systems in Brevard County, which includes Satellite Beach, tested negative for PFOS and PFOA.
But it hasn’t yet done the same for groundwater unless nearby residents were also using it as drinking water.
One of Prieto’s classmates, Julie Greenwalt, was diagnosed with cancer of the appendix two years ago.
Greenwalt said she’s become the face of residents’ concerns that there is a connection between PFAS and cancer, and that since the Military Times article, people have called her at her clinic saying they want to get their own water or blood tested.
And even though PFOS and PFOA chemicals haven’t been used in manufacturing in years, they have been found in groundwater and drinking water systems around the country.
In Satellite Beach, Prieto and Greenwalt are speaking to more than 1,400 residents and past residents about their concerns that groundwater contamination is somehow related to their cancers or cancer in their family.

Prieto said that she knew of six or seven classmates from Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida, who were also diagnosed with uncommon cancers when she was diagnosed but that she now knows of about 20 — all at about the same time.
The article reported that wells used to monitor groundwater contaminants at nearby Patrick Air Force Base showed levels of chemicals from military firefighting foam higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered safe.
Prieto is demanding the state find out if the test results and cancer rates among her and her former classmates are connected.
The EPA’s recommended limit for PFOS and PFOA is specific to drinking water, but the tests at Patrick Air Force Base involved groundwater at the base.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection told ABC News that drinking water systems in Brevard County, which includes Satellite Beach, tested negative for PFOS and PFOA.
The science on connections between PFOS and PFOA exposure and cancer and other health problems is also not definitive.
Some research has linked the chemicals to cancer in animals, including a recent government study that found they caused health problems in animals at exposure levels much lower than the EPA’s recommended limit.
Greenwalt said she’s become the face of residents’ concerns that there is a connection between PFAS and cancer, and that since the Military Times article, people have called her at her clinic saying they want to get their own water or blood tested.
And even though PFOS and PFOA chemicals haven’t been used in manufacturing in years, they have been found in groundwater and drinking water systems around the country.
In Satellite Beach, Prieto and Greenwalt are speaking to more than 1,400 residents and past residents about their concerns that groundwater contamination is somehow related to their cancers or cancer in their family.