Northern Light Health’s Blue Hill Hospital will use a tanker truck and bottled water after recent testing found excessive “forever chemicals” in its well.
Those tests found concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds at 20.1 parts per trillion, just over the state mandated maximum of 20 parts per trillion, Blue Hill Hospital said in a Thursday statement.
That means the hospital cannot use its well water until those levels can be brought down. Blue Hill Hospital is working with a Maine-based company on a long-term fix.
“While this type of well does not currently have regulatory requirements or interim guidelines, we felt it was important to take action now,” said Tim Doak, vice president of the hospital’s facilities department. “We are taking immediate steps to implement a short-term fix and a long-term solution that ensures our staff and patients have access to clean water, regardless of how small the potential risk.”
For the near future, Blue Hill Hospital will distribute bottled water to patients and staff and use a tanker truck to pipe in clean water.
PFAS first came into use in the 1940s, and were widely used for their water-, grease- and stain-resistant properties. But the chemicals are not easily broken down in either the environment or human body, which is why they are often referred to as “forever chemicals.”
Exposure to them is linked to increased risk of health problems and certain cancers.