MassDEP deems Housatonic Water Works analysis of cancer-causing contaminant ‘inadequate’

GREAT BARRINGTON — Citing “an inadequate evaluation,” the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has directed Housatonic Water Works (HWW) to further analyze the cause of a potentially cancer-causing compound in the company’s drinking water.

The information was presented at Monday’s selectboard meeting by town Health Agent Rebecca Jurczyk, who had called the DEP to get a better understanding of the department’s recent letter to HWW. Click here to read it.

The private water company serving the Housatonic section of Great Barrington recently violated a drinking water standard after recent tests indicated elevated levels of haloacetic acid compounds, known as HAA5. If allowed to continue for a long period of time, HAA5 could cause cancer in those who ingest it.

HWW treasurer Jim Mercer disclosed the violation in a one-page notice sent out to the company’s 850 customers on Monday, Jan. 10. The DEP says HAA5 is “a disinfection byproduct that forms when chlorine compounds that are used to disinfect water react with other naturally-occurring chemicals in the water.”

Jurczyk said the good news is that “the presence of HAA5 is evidence that the chlorine is doing what it’s intended to do by binding into the organic materials in order to sterilize any bacteria that might be pathogenic in the water and surface water sources,” in this case Long Pond, which acts at HWW’s reservoir.

See video below of Monday’s Great Barrington Selectboard meeting. Fast forward to 6:25 for the discussion of Housatonic Water Works:

On December 28, 2021, HWW produced an abbreviated report form and supplemental data which MassDEP determined to be “an inadequate evaluation,” according to MassDEP western Massachusetts drinking water specialist Deirdre Doherty, who signed the January 24 letter to Mercer.

“The DEP’s safety standard is called the maximum contaminant level, so you’ll see it noted on the report as MCL,” Jurczyk said. “MCL is determined by an average of the last four water samples.”

MassDEP requires public water utilities to file quarterly reports on contaminants. The level of HAA5 averaged at HWW’s monitoring location for October 2020 through September 2021 was 65 parts per billion (ppb), and for January through December 2021, it averaged 73 ppb. 

From October 2020 to now the range of HAA5 was 44 ppb to 103 ppb. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and MassDEP have set a maximum contaminant level for HAA5 of 60 parts ppb or micrograms per liter averaged over the course of 12 months.

HWW must file a more complete operational evaluation reporting form by March 9. Jurczyk asked Doherty for a clarification on the language of the actual formal letter of noncompliance MassDEP plans to issue soon.

Doherty told Jurczyk immediate actions must be taken to reduce the level of contaminant identified at the location and HWW will have to provide a memorandum documenting these actions. 

In addition, Jurczyk said, within 180 days of the maximum contaminant level exceedance, HWW must submit a report by a professional engineer to provide recommendations for safeguarding future transgressions.

“So essentially within six months, Housatonic Water Works will need to submit an engineered plan of how they plan to prevent this violation in the future,” Jurczyk said.

Authorities and watchdog groups say exceedances of HAA5 are not rare. According to the Environmental Working Group’s tap water database, from 2017 to 2021, exceedances occurred in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In Massachusetts alone, 168 water utilities exceed the guidelines for HAA5 levels. 

In western Massachusetts, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission earlier this month notified city residents of high levels of HAA5 in drinking water samples taken in early December. 

The small and privately owned HWW has been under fire from customers and town officials for several years, mostly over discolored, roily water and deferred maintenance. State officials who monitor rates and health concerns say they are powerless to regulate esthetic problems with the water. 

The selectboard is currently considering options for taking over the company, or merging it with the Great Barrington Fire District, which provides water to the rest of the town.