Vermont Governor Phil Scott visited Bennington today to mark an unfortunate milestone. Hundreds of properties are now connected to clean drinking water after PFAS contamination was confirmed in 2016.
Through a consent order with company Saint-Gobain, clean drinking water has been brought to hundreds of residents in the Bennington area after private wells were found contaminated with PFAS.
The odorless, tasteless contamination has been linked to the former Chemfab plant in North Bennington, which closed in 2002.
Scott spoke next to a set of booster pumps installed to bring water through the new lines to about 40 homes. All 445 of 482 eligible households who decided to connect are now being serviced by municipal water in Bennington and North Bennington.
“Adding 21 miles of water main and 15 miles of service line is no small feat. To put this in perspective, that’s like running a water line from here to Brattleboro. Or here to Dorset. So that about sums it all up, it’s just an amazing project,” said Scott.
Residences that have not been connected to municipal water have had filtration systems installed.
The work over the last five years was begun under the administration of former Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin, and continued under Governor Scott, a Republican.
Democratic Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan has been involved the state’s efforts to address PFAS contamination since being sworn in in 2017.
“I always said that access to clean drinking water is a basic human right, and that when we’re having this debate in the 21st Century…really, should give everybody pause. But when a corporation steps outside the lines and does something wrong, it’s government’s role to hold them responsible and make sure that people have that right,” said Donovan.
Bennington Town Manager Stu Hurd gave credit to Saint-Gobain for coming to the table soon after the state confirmed PFAS contamination in the Bennington area in 2016.
“They could have made this fight of a lifetime and they didn’t. They stepped up. And I think with the closure with the settlement that David has been working on, there’s some good stuff to come in our future here in Bennington,” said Hurd.
Last week, Saint-Gobain settled in a class action lawsuit brought by Bennington residents. The $34 million settlement that has yet to be approved in court includes $6 million to establish a 15-year medical monitoring effort for those affected by the contamination. Exposure to elevated levels of PFAS compounds has been linked to several ill health effects including cancer.
Attorney and Bennington resident David Silver was part of a team of lawyers who worked on the class action case.
“We worked as hard as humanly possible to have this medical monitoring program in place as soon as possible, that was our number one priority,” said Silver.
A vocal Bennington resident throughout the contamination crisis, Lora Block thanked all of those assembled Monday for their efforts.
“So as a resident, I’m extra, extra thankful now for all the work that you all did,” said Block.
Block said watching the construction for the corrective action was its own form of entertainment, something she called “better than a movie.”
“We watched the trucks digging up our road and it was so wonderful to see the deconstruction, knowing that the reconstruction would be happening,” said Block.
