HELENA — PFAS, or forever chemicals, were found at Jim Darcy Elementary at the end of July. Those same chemicals were found earlier this week at Rossiter Elementary, but officials said Friday more testing is needed to determine whether those chemicals are actually coming from the school’s wells.
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“With our water supply, we take it very seriously,” Helena Public Schools superintendent Rex Weltz said.
First, what are forever chemicals?
“PFAS are a large classification of man-made chemicals, so the last time we checked, they are in 1,400 individual products,” Neal Murray, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality PFAS rule manager, said.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, forever chemicals are found in things like nonstick cookware, waterproof and stain-resistant clothing and carpets, grease-resistant food packaging like fast-food wrappers, certain cosmetics, and cleaning products.
Testing for these chemicals is happening across the country. Under new federal guidance, all public water systems must sample for PFAS.
That means just under 100 schools in Montana are required to test for PFAS by DEQ, and that's because they are not connected to their city's water systems.
Jim Darcy, Rossiter, and Warren elementary schools all have their own wells.
“When we recommend raw water sampling at the wells is so that we can identify if the source is coming from the ground or if it is in the actual plumbing between the well and inside the building,” Murray said.
As of Friday, three schools in the state have detected forever chemicals: two in Helena, the other in Florence.
Ahead of the well results, Helena Public Schools says precautions are already in place for drinking water.
“I think for our parents to know is that our water bottle filling stations have filters in them that eliminate the forever chemical, and we are making sure all of those are up and running,” Weltz said.
The district facilities department does have a contingency plan if the wells test positive.
“That looks like some sort of an engineered filter system,” Weltz added.
The samples are sent to California for testing, and the district and DEQ are waiting on additional results, which should provide a clearer picture of the water and what, if any, action needs to be taken.
