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PFAS commission warns contamination is persistent as Saint‑Gobain plans demolition; remediation questions remain
Summary
The Bedford PFAS legislative study commission told the council that PFOA/PFAS levels have remained stable years after industrial use stopped, that planned demolition at the Saint‑Gobain site raises remediation concerns, and that changing federal and state standards will expand remediation responsibilities.
Chris Bandezian, speaking for the regional PFAS legislative study commission, presented the commission’s fifth interim report to the Bedford Town Council on Nov. 13, saying that untreated PFOA/PFAS levels in local wells have remained persistent despite the end of industrial use roughly 20 years ago.
Bandezian said the Merrimack Village District (MVD) system extracts large volumes of water and that one local well (Well 4) serving Greenfield Farms and Cabot Preserve had been pulled offline and returned to service after carbon filtration. He warned that ongoing air deposition and legacy contamination mean groundwater impacts are widespread and long‑lasting, and that a comprehensive groundwater management plan is still under negotiation with the state.
The presenter raised new urgency because Saint‑Gobain has announced plans to demolish the factory building. "Site remediation since they announced that they were going to discontinue use of the site has been a big concern," he said, and he described the company’s proposed remedial approach as relying primarily on monitoring and natural dispersion—an approach the state objects to. Councilors asked whether demolition could release more contamination and how demolition materials will be disposed; Bandezian said some materials have already been removed, that demolition debris will go to appropriately permitted landfills, and that the state can require onsite soil remediation if necessary as part of ongoing negotiations.
On policy, the presenter flagged recent legislation (with Senator Ricciardi’s help) that would make certain remediation remedies available to private individuals outside the original consent decree area, including coverage for attorneys’ and expert fees if Saint‑Gobain is shown responsible. He also described an ongoing expanded cancer registry study in Merrimack that is gathering longer‑term data; that study could support future causation research but is currently correlation‑focused.
Councilors raised practical questions about testing during demolition, the scope of state enforcement, and whether federal MCL changes (the Environmental Protection Agency’s 4 parts‑per‑trillion proposed standard, currently litigated) could be stayed or altered. Bandezian said the EPA rule is in federal court and challenged by some industries, and that state rule‑making is moving to adopt federal levels but that work continues.
Council members asked the presenter to keep the town informed and coordinate with public works and planning officials on land‑use best practices around contaminated properties.
