Photo Courtesy: CapecodFD.com
BARNSTABLE – Barnstable County officials are reconsidering a recent decision to halt the use of water at the Barnstable County Fire and Rescue Training Academy after hearing concerns from Cape Cod fire chiefs.
The suspension of water at the site was scheduled to begin in June as it has been linked to contamination of the Hyannis water supply from highly fluorinated chemicals, or PFAS.
The PFAS chemicals, which are found in firefighting foam, nonstick coatings, water-repellent clothing and many other household and personal items have been linked to health threats ranging from cancer to decreased fertility.
The issue of the contaminants in local groundwater has been a concern in recent years. The contaminants have been linked to the fire academy and the Barnstable Municipal Airport.
The water ban was based on concerns that further use would move the chemicals further into the soil and impact drinking water.
Barnstable County Commissioners voted to direct the county administrator to work with Barnstable Town Council and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection on a plan that would allow for the continued use of water for training.
The vote followed comments from local fire chiefs.
“If we are not permitted to maintain our training regime at that facility it will not only affect the fire departments, but it will affect the public directly,” said Anthony Pike, the Orleans Fire Chief.
Pike said discontinuing the use of water for training would have a larger impact on the departments in smaller Cape Cod communities.
Provincetown Fire Chief Michael Trovato has indicated that shutting down the training facility would be crippling for the town.
“We are pretty much shoulder to shoulder with every fire department on Cape in this effort to keep this facility open,” Pike said.
The DEP said the suspension of water use at the facility will enable the evaluation resulting from the implementation of more effective approaches to reduce infiltration.
West Barnstable Fire Chief Joe Maruca said the key issue is understanding how much or how little water is used for fire training.
“It is critical to use water in fire training,” Maruca said.
Maruca said the amount of water used by fire departments for training is rather small when compared to the amount of rain water that enters the contaminated soil.
The West Barnstable Fire Department conducted training at the academy over three nights in April. Maruca said the department used less than 1,000 gallons of water at the Burn Building.
“We are extinguishing the fires with 50-60 gallons of water,” Maruca said. “We are not pouring large quantities of water on the site.”
Maruca said 40 inches of rain during the course of the year would put 4.8 million gallons of rain water through the soil.
“The West Barnstable Fire Department putting 1,000 gallons of water into this mix three nights in April does not seem like a significant number to outright ban fire training at the facility,” Maruca said.
Maruca said the amount of water used by all the local fire departments at the site is probably much less than what the public or DEP officials would think.
“I’m wondering if there is a way to have that conversation with the DEP, with the different stakeholder groups that are involved in this, and see if we can find a way or a compromise, or something, that could take us there,” he said.
Barnstable Town Manager Mark Ells recently said that County Administrator Jack Yunits indicated that the academy is expected to be relocated to Joint Base Cape Cod.
Ells said his office recognizes the need to provide first responders with a facility to train.
MassDEP recently proposed rules revisions along with proposed new drinking water standards that further lowers the acceptable level of PFASs in drinking water.
Ells said the town, through its DPW Water Supply Division relative to the Hyannis Water System, notified MassDEP of ongoing and additional action to address any concerns related to PFAS.
MassDEP will continue to work with the town as they progress through their review of the PFAS standard.
A public meeting on proposed revisions for cleanup site rules will be held May 28 at Barnstable Town Hall from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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