Hawthorne reports PFAS system online, outlines $7M treatment cost and 9% water-rate hikes in 2025 and 2026

Mayor Lane told the Hawthorne Borough Council the borough's new PFAS treatment system has been operational since April and that early testing has returned non-detect results for regulated PFAS and several compounds under consideration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Why it matters: The system and an ongoing water-service replacement program together create long-term capital and operating costs that the mayor says will require higher water rates and long-term financing. The council heard a timeline for pipeline phases and a projection of two 9% rate increases in the next two years.

Mayor Lane said the PFAS treatment project cost roughly $7,000,000 and that the borough expects to receive “in excess of $2,000,000” from a class-action settlement with multiple PFAS manufacturers to apply toward that construction cost. He said the balance will be financed with low-interest loans from the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank and repaid over 25 years. “All tests that have been dated have non detect results, not just for current regulated PFAS chemicals, but also ones proposed for regulation by the EPA and still others not yet proposed for regulation,” Lane said.

Lane told the council there will be ongoing operating costs tied to the PFAS system, because the media used in the system must be replaced periodically. “There will be an additional operating cost for our utility for periodic replacement of the treatment media in the PFAS system, a cost that over time will likely average as much as the loan payment in the project,” he said.

Separately, the borough is carrying out a 10-year program to replace galvanized water service lines. Lane said Phase 2 of the replacement program is complete, phase 3 construction began on Hawthorne Avenue on Jan. 6, and phase 4 should be put out to bid in the spring with phase 5 following in the fall. He said the borough plans to complete the multi-phase project by June 30, 2031. The mayor noted the state regulation targets lead service lines, but in Hawthorne many service connections are galvanized steel rather than lead and that annual testing has not shown lead problems.

Lane estimated the 10-year cost for the service-line program could be roughly $15,000,000 and said that work will likewise be financed through low-interest loans from the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank. He told the council the combination of the two major water projects and usual operating costs is driving the utility to raise rates: “After major increases in 2023 and 2024, there will be a 9% rate increase in 2025 followed by a 9% increase on 2026,” he said.

Council members heard additional infrastructure items tied to public safety and operations: the mayor reported completion of an overhaul of emergency communications equipment and distributed portable radios to police, fire and ambulance personnel. He also provided service-volume numbers for emergency departments, noting the police department logged 46,659 computer-aided dispatch entries in 2024; the fire department responded to 769 calls in 2024 (581 in 2023); and various vehicle- and traffic-safety grants were received.

The mayor also noted the borough is seeking grants to make athletic-field improvements and said the borough already has a $70,000 grant toward bleacher and press-box work at Franklin Field.

The council did not take separate votes that alter the financing described; the mayor presented the projects and the expected financing path. Any future bond or loan approvals and rate-setting ordinances would require additional formal action by the council.

Looking ahead, Lane said staff will continue to apply for grant aid to offset capital costs and pointed to the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank as the intended lender for the remaining construction balances.