The Sierra Club has been conducting research on PFAS contamination with a focus on water for several years. Our work has been based on both public data and original field research.
Clint Richmond, the Conservation Chair for the Massachusetts Chapter, is presenting a poster based on this research at the Northeast Conference on the Science of PFAS: Public Health & the Environment being held starting April 2, 2024. The poster is entitled "Combined Analysis Shows High Levels of PFAS in Water Across Massachusetts":
One additional finding that was not included due to a lack of space:
There are only ten communities (3% of the state total) that have been tested and can currently be considered PFAS-free based on this analysis:
Agawam, Gosnold, Hadley, Hawley, Heath, Lenox, Longmeadow, Middlefield, Monroe, South Hadley
Note that the municipalities that are colored white have no local water sources but are served by consecutive PWS with sources in other municipalities. The vast majority are part of the MWRA territory which are mostly urban areas that can be expected to contain PFAS. The Sierra Club has conducted surface water testing in Boston Metro MWRA communities (Arlington, Boston, Brookline and Milton) that found PFAS in every sample, usually above 20 ppt.
This poster is based on the following data sources:
PWS:
Map 1: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/per-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas#pfas-detected-in-drinking-water-supplies-in-massachusetts-
Maps 2-3: https://eeaonline.eea.state.ma.us/portal#!/search/drinking-water
Wells: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/per-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas#free-pfas-analyses-program-
plus additional data provided directly by MassDEP
Surface Water: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/pfas-in-surface-water-and-fish-tissue