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Groveland planners continue review of proposed $30–35 million water treatment plant aimed at PFAS compliance
Summary
The Planning Board heard an extensive presentation from Apex Companies about a proposed 8,400 sq ft treatment plant to remove iron, manganese and PFAS from three town wells; the board continued the item to allow TEC, conservation and DEP coordination and to protect a state revolving fund deadline.
Groveland officials continued review of a proposed town water treatment plant on July 7 after a detailed presentation and technical questions from the planning board.
Austin Potts, senior project manager with Apex Companies, told the board that all three Groveland wells show iron, manganese and detectable levels of PFAS compounds that will be subject to federal regulatory compliance beginning in April 2029. "The two most important components or compounds of PFAS are present in all three of the wells," Potts said, and the town is "racing" to have treatment online before the compliance deadline.
Apex representative Darren Stairs described a proposed single-story, pre-engineered metal building of about 8,400 square feet to house treatment vessels and process tanks, with associated paving, a fenced utility yard, a standby natural-gas generator and long raw-water mains tying the three wells together. Stairs estimated the project construction cost "in the 30 to 35,000,000 range" and said the town has received roughly $15,000,000 in low-interest state-revolving-fund loans and will seek approximately $15,000,000 more before the end-of-month submission deadline.
Technical details discussed included an anticipated increase in impervious surface from roughly 10,000 to 35,000 square feet, stormwater facilities designed as a four-bay settling sequence feeding a 100% infiltrating bioretention area with emergency overflow to the Merrimack River, and the handling of process residuals that will be routed to the sewer system. The team requested a waiver from a photometric plan and said it is coordinating with the town’s technical reviewer (TEC), the conservation commission and MassDEP on permits and conditions.
Board members pressed on construction impacts to the Pines Recreational Area, traffic and turning maneuvers for occasional large deliveries (PFAS media), lighting and safety around the site, and a tight permitting schedule tied to funding. Potts stressed the funding schedule: "We have a very hard deadline... October 2," and said the design team is trying to be shovel-ready to preserve the state revolving fund financing.
Because TEC and other reviewers had yet to finish comment rounds, the board voted to continue the item so the applicant and reviewers could resolve technical comments and return with responses and any revisions to the special-permit and stormwater documents. The board and project team agreed to keep close coordination to avoid losing the funding opportunity while addressing conservation, floodplain and construction phasing concerns.
