Borough schedules July 30 water-quality meeting and outlines PFAS settlement payments

Borough Administrator Neil announced a public water-quality meeting to be held Wednesday, July 30, at 7:00 p.m. (Teams). The session will include the boroughs water operator, H2M compliance engineers and a status update on discoloration issues, valve repairs, the hydraulic study (including GIS imagery), lead-service-line work and the consumer confidence report. The presentation will be recorded and posted; a hybrid in-person meeting is planned this fall.

Neil told the council the engineers will present findings and the borough aims to make data available to the public ahead of the July 30 meeting when feasible. Virtual commenter Joanne Mitchell asked for preliminary hydraulic-study findings before the meeting; Neil said the team plans to post findings the following week (not by the immediate Friday). He said the July 30 session will be interactive with a question-and-answer period.

Council and residents also discussed recent PFAS litigation proceeds. The borough joined multi-defendant PFAS litigation; staff said 3M was the first defendant to settle. Administrator Neil and staff outlined a payment schedule: "the first payment...is about $200,000. The next payment is about $485,000. We should receive that in third quarter of this year," they said, estimating roughly $700,000 in 2025, with smaller payments scheduled thereafter through 2033. Officials said the council will need to determine how to allocate or reserve those funds for water-system remediation (media change-out and associated costs).

Residents asked for background on the litigation and a timeline for remaining settlements; borough counsel said other defendants (for example DuPont and BASF) remain in litigation and each matter proceeds on its own timetable. Officials characterized the 3M payment as an early settlement and said future recoveries depend on separate court schedules.