Temple Terrace schedules town halls after tests find PFAS above new EPA guidance

Councilmembers on Tuesday directed staff to hold public information sessions on recent water-quality results after residents raised health and safety concerns about PFAS, other contaminants and a limited coliform sample reported earlier.

The move followed public comments from multiple residents who said the city’s March testing showed elevated levels of “forever chemicals.” City staff said the samples prompted the city to hire a water-resources consultant and to pursue outside legal help to recover costs from chemical manufacturers.

The City Manager (name on record with the City) said the city’s March samples showed PFOA at 8.11 parts per trillion and PFOS at about 19.3–19.5 parts per trillion. "PFOA 8.11 parts per trillion; PFOS, it was 19.3 and 19.5 parts per trillion," the City Manager told the council. He said those results triggered a consultant study to recommend filtration and treatment options and a legal review to pursue compensation from chemical companies.

Why it matters: federal and state regulatory action on PFAS is changing. The manager summarized recent federal actions and timelines, saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 rules set maximum contaminant levels that water systems nationwide will need to address on a multiyear timetable and that some compliance deadlines were updated in 2025. "At present, the EPA is requiring mid and large sized drinking water systems ... to complete initial monitoring by 2027 and to implement solutions ... by 2029" (the manager noted the agency later shifted some effective dates toward 2031). He cautioned the science and regulatory thresholds are still evolving.

Public concerns and city responses

Residents urged faster action and clearer interim protections. Amina Khan, who identified herself as an artist and local resident, told the council a Temple Terrace resident was killed overseas and invited councilmembers to a memorial but also raised concern on behalf of the local Muslim and Palestinian-American community. Multiple speakers — including Dave Lewis, Liz Magrini, Laura Bolser, Tracy Smith and Amanda Moody — addressed the PFAS and other contaminants, describing personal health worries and calling for more transparency, clearer notices to renters and vulnerable populations, and interim assistance such as discounts on filtration systems or water delivery.

The City Manager said the city mailed a consumer confidence report and has posted a frequently asked questions page, and that staff has asked CHA (the city’s water-resources consultant) to evaluate and recommend an appropriate PFAS filtration treatment solution. "They can have that study done, probably within 2 months or so," the manager said, adding the city expects to present findings to council in the fall. Staff also told the council it hired an outside law firm network to pursue settlement or cost recovery from manufacturers.

The manager addressed a separate sampling question about a positive coliform result from late 2024. He said the system never tested positive for E. coli, that subsequent follow-up samples were negative, and that an independent third-party lab did systemwide sampling that returned negative results. He called the earlier finding a sampling-procedure issue and said staff retrained technicians and had the independent lab re-sample the system.

Council action and next steps

- Councilmember Kravitz moved and the council approved a motion directing staff to hold two public information sessions (one in person, one via Zoom) on water quality reporting and testing, with the first session scheduled within four weeks. The motion passed. - The council also asked the city attorney and outside counsel to provide a written memorandum summarizing the city’s involvement in PFAS-related settlements and the status of outside counsel activities; the council approved that request.

Staff said the consultant’s report should identify filtration options, estimated costs, permitting and construction timelines and potential funding sources, and the city will present a recommended scope and cost estimate to council once the study is complete. The City Manager said staff will continue to pursue grants and to explore legal avenues to mitigate the financial impact to ratepayers.

Discussion vs. decision: council members repeatedly emphasized the difference between discussion (public worries, preliminary test results and where contamination might originate) and formal action. The only formal directions adopted at the meeting were to schedule public information sessions and to request a written status update on legal and settlement activity from the city attorney and outside counsel.

What remains uncertain: staff said the March test results provide an initial baseline but more monitoring is needed to understand variability over time; the consultant’s engineering, permit and construction recommendations — and the total cost to build a filtration system sized for the system’s approximately 5 million gallons per day production — remain to be developed.