Residents press planner on PFAS testing after school reports contamination

During Q&A following the Saxons River presentation, multiple participants asked whether ANR maintains a PFAS layer and whether local testing exists for Grafton. Charles Bonin (Speaker 6) identified himself and said residents had learned of PFAS at the school and in at least one private well. Bonin asked directly: “Marie, your filter layers, do you have anything that shows PFAS issues in Grafton?”

Marie Cajunno answered that PFAS monitoring is being carried out in areas where known threats exist and that a statewide PFAS layer was not a current public layer she could point to immediately. She said she would look up available records and follow up: “I can look up and get back to you on what feedback stated we have for local…heat,” and offered to investigate school findings and local well data. Commissioners requested faster testing and asked whether the town should ask the regional office or ANR for expedited analyses.

The commission recorded the request as an action item: ANR to search for PFAS data relevant to Grafton’s school and local wells and report back to the planning commission. Commissioners also asked staff to consider whether PFAS mapping could be incorporated as a layer or referenced in the town plan’s natural resources chapter.