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Town meeting in Windsor regarding forever chemicals in the Farmington river

WINDSOR — The town of Windsor invited DEEP and the Public Health Department to speak with residents after the growing concern due to the release of thousa...

WINDSOR -- The town of Windsor invited DEEP and the Public Health Department to speak with residents after the growing concern due to the release of thousands of gallons of a fire fighting foam containing forever chemicals.

Back in June, a malfunction at an airport hanger sent gallons of the hazardous chemical into the sewer lines which spread into the Farmington river.

There were also reports of the foam coming up from a manhole cover on Rainbow Rd in Windsor leaving residents of that area very concerned.

"What the plan is, is to test the soil first because it leeches very slowly, so they want to test the soil to see if whatever contaminants could get to the well," Windsor Mayor Don Trinks explained.

The soil in certain areas will be tested however results take a long time to come in due to the intense nature of the testing and verifying the results.

Any contaminated soil according to a PowerPoint presentation delivered by DEEP says work schedule will begin on November  17.

Then they will go on to install groundwater monitoring wells and sample over four quarterly events

In addition, the fish tested in the contaminated area between Route 75 and Poquonock Ave down stream to the CT river are still testing for the PFAS and the advisory to not eat them is still in place.

Catch and release is allowed and is deemed safe for recreational use.

In addition, the firefighting foam containing PFAS was used in the deadly B-17 bomber crash at Bradley International Airport, over 22,000 gallons of foam containing AFFF was used to put out that fire.

Officials from DEEP saying it had to be done due to the nature of the fire.

Officials from DEEP saying the first responders did a great job of trying to contain the foam however, due to several factors including a weather event a few days later it is likely that some of the “forever chemical” leaked.

However, tests showed that no portable wells were at risk when the release first occurred.

DEEP officials saying certain areas are being monitored with a surface monitoring plan and will be tested weekly.

As of Oct 21, the chemical is being detected but in certain areas has dropped, but is still elevated.

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