County updates technical plan for PFAS cleanup at former municipal fire training site; PRB pilot advance funded with ARPA money

Barnstable County staff and consultants on Feb. 25 gave a technical briefing on the former municipal fire training site and ongoing PFAS remediation planning. Paul Rosala, the county’s assets and infrastructure manager, and consultants from GZA GeoEnvironmental described a coordinated, multi‑track program of additional investigation, numerical groundwater modeling, forensic source analysis, and pilot testing in advance of larger remediation steps.

GZA principals David Leone and John (last name recorded variously) said the county’s strategy is to close key data gaps, refine a conceptual site model and use a numerical groundwater flow model (built from a USGS Cape‑wide model and supplemented with higher‑resolution local data) to assess plume pathways, the influence of pumping wells, and remedial scenarios. The consultants said new work includes a geophysical survey to map a low‑permeability silty‑clay layer beneath the site, targeted soil and groundwater sampling to the north and downgradient directions, and installation of monitoring wells aligned with a planned permeable reactive barrier (PRB).

GZA described the PRB approach as an in situ…