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Pembroke Pines OKs $6.08 million design contract for PFAS removal; disposal questions remain
Summary
The City Commission authorized a $6,079,965 agreement with Hazen & Sawyer to design ion-exchange treatment to remove PFAS from the city's water, while commissioners pressed staff about where and how the contaminated spent media will be disposed.
The Pembroke Pines City Commission authorized a $6,079,965 agreement with Hazen & Sawyer to design ion-exchange additions for PFAS removal at the municipal water treatment plant, while commissioners pressed staff for detail on how and where the contaminated byproduct would be managed.
Utilities Director Tim Welch told the commission the project responds to a new EPA rule with an April 2031 compliance timeline. Janine Wickriffey, a Hazen & Sawyer consultant, said the design work will include a disposal study: “we are going to look at spent ion exchange disposal and what those costs will be for the city,” adding that the ion-exchange media “cannot be regenerated… it has to be disposed of.”
Commissioner Goode, who brought the item forward, said the contract seeks design, permitting and bidding services and pressed the consultants and staff for answers about the downstream handling of PFAS. He warned that disposal could turn into an operating cost and a potential legal exposure, asking, “when you get rid of the PFAS, what do you do with the PFAS?” The city attorney later cautioned elected officials elsewhere in the meeting about commenting on matters tied to pending litigation, underscoring sensitivity around legal exposure.
Officials identified landfill and incineration as possible transport-to options and said the contract’s scope includes a subtask to evaluate spent-media disposal options and costs. Wickriffey said the team will do pilot testing in the project’s first year to estimate the volume and frequency of disposal needs.
Mayor Angelo Castillo and other commissioners urged staff to pursue regional solutions and state coordination so municipalities do not each bear separate disposal costs. “This certainly needs to be a regional approach,” one commissioner said, noting the federal moratorium on burning PFAS and the risk of creating new contamination sites.
The commission approved the negotiated agreement by voice vote and recorded the item as passing unanimously. City staff said they will return with implementation details developed through the pilot program and the Task 2.4 disposal assessment.
Next steps: Hazen & Sawyer will begin design services and pilot testing under the contract; staff will report back with disposal options, cost estimates and a proposed schedule to meet the EPA compliance date.
