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Residents press council over PFAS contamination as state testing continues
Summary
Residents pressed the council for faster, clearer action after state testing found PFAS in wells near the fire station; town officials said DOH/DEM are coordinating testing, the town will provide kits and limited water delivery, and engineering funding is set aside for planning a phased waterline.
Residents demanded immediate testing and clearer answers about PFAS contamination and remediation during an extended public-comment period at the Tiverton Town Council meeting.
“We have a contaminated well,” said Pete Walsh, a resident who identified himself and described living on an affected well for 10 years. Walsh pressed the council to ensure systematic testing and to find the source of contamination. “Test the well. Test the well,” he said, repeatedly urging the town and state to expand sampling. Multiple neighbors described confusion about who would be tested, how results would be published and how long installation of state-approved filtration systems would take.
Administrator Jones and town staff described ongoing coordination with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Department of Health (DOH). “As of today, they have conducted about 120 tests,” the administrator told the meeting, and DOH will demonstrate proper sampling procedures at a planned community meeting. The town will supply test kits and pay for testing for residents in the immediately impacted area who have not yet been tested; a sign-up for water delivery and other short-term assistance will be available at that meeting.
Residents questioned timelines for filters and waterlines. The administrator and other officials said state vendors have a backlog — installations were described by staff as taking “three, four, six weeks” in recent cases — and that the town has approved planning funds to model a phased waterline but not to pay for full construction. Officials characterized the town's recent allocation (public comments referenced roughly $120,000–$125,000) as design and modeling funds that would be followed by phased implementation when state or federal construction funding is secured.
Town staff asked residents to attend a DOH/DEM presentation and demonstration scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. (presentations at 6 p.m.), where officials said they will show how to collect samples properly and will release a map showing the gradients of contamination once results are compiled. Staff also said they are arranging interim support — volunteer-trained samplers, laundromat or gym passes for residents who prefer off-site showers, and water-delivery options for households without immediate filtration solutions.
Councilors and staff said they will continue weekly coordination calls with DEM and DOH and promised follow-ups if questions at the demonstration are not answered. Several residents volunteered to be trained as samplers for housebound or elderly neighbors.
