Springfield officials discuss PFAS bill, firefighting gear and Connecticut River fish advisory

City councilors and city officials spent a Springfield City meeting reviewing a state legislative package described as “an act to protect Massachusetts public health from PFAS,” local public-health advisories for the Connecticut River and steps the Springfield Fire Department has taken to reduce firefighter exposure to PFAS.

The bill, refiled this legislative session after hearings in prior years, would aim to both reduce future PFAS exposure from consumer products and fund remediation of existing contamination, legislative staff said. “We want to cut off the PFAS spigot … to get it out of consumer products, to get it out of food packaging, and then also to clean up what's already in the environment,” Meg (legislative staff) said during the meeting.

The discussion also focused on an immediate public-health advisory. Helen Colton, who represented Springfield’s public-health side in the meeting, said the Massachusetts Department of Public Health had identified the Connecticut River among bodies of water with PFAS levels that, in places and for certain species, exceed thresholds for safe consumption. Colton said the…