Infrastructure Bank Grants Will Help Clean Up Water Systems in Newport, Scituate and Little Compton
January 20, 2025
PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank, in coordination with the state Department of Health, has awarded a total of $638,000 in grants to small water systems in Newport, Scituate, and Little Compton to address PFAS and manganese contamination impacting public drinking water sources.
The funds come from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program.
“PFAS and other emerging contaminants are a growing problem for public drinking water systems across Rhode Island, yet small water systems lack the financial resources to address the issue,” said Infrastructure Bank executive director William Fazioli. “That is why we are pleased to provide grant funding to small water systems in Newport, Scituate, and Little Compton that collectively serve approximately 800 people.”
The Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced new guidelines last April that pushed efforts around the nation, including in Rhode Island, to eliminate or reduce toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — a class of chemicals known as PFAS — from drinking water.
The new federal levels are more restrictive than the current maximum contaminant level in Rhode Island, which is 20 ppt in drinking water. Up to April 10, when the guidelines were announced, no federal level existed; states devised maximum contaminant levels for themselves.
Both through legislation and in water treatment facilities and water pipes, Rhode Island has been working over the past few years to get control over PFAS — a class of toxic chemicals that have been used since the 1940s in a wide range of consumer products from food wrappers to carpets to Teflon pans to firefighting foam.
These compounds may lead to decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, higher risk of some cancers, weakening of the immune system, interference with hormones, and increased cholesterol levels. There are at least eight types and combinations of PFAS, which are informally known as “forever chemicals” because they persist for so long in the environment.
The grants are:
$550,000 for the Little Compton School District for PFAS for water treatment upgrades to remove elevated levels of PFAS impacting the water system serving 450 students and faculty.
$48,000 for the Scituate Commons Apartment Complex to design treatment system upgrades to remove elevated levels of PFAS impacting residents.
$40,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County for treatment system upgrades to remove elevated levels of iron and manganese in the drinking water system at Camp Grosvenor.
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