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PARKERSBURG -- A state entity approved funding this week for a $12.6 million project aimed at removing C8 and related chemicals from the Parkersburg Utility Board's water.
Funding for one project and preliminary approvals for 10 more were announced Friday by the West Virginia Department of Commerce after the state Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council met Wednesday.
Among them is $12.6 million in water treatment plant improvements, which PUB Manager Eric Benntt said are intended to address the presence of a chemical used for years in the Teflon-manufacturing process at the Washington Works plant.
C8, also known as perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA, is part of a family of chemical compounds often referred to as "forever chemicals," or PFAS, because of how long it takes them to break down. It was designated a hazardous substance by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in August.
A science panel established by the settlement of a class-action lawsuit against DuPont over the presence of C8 in local water supplies found links to half a dozen diseases in humans, including kidney and testicular cancer and thyroid disease.
Although C8 is no longer used at Washington Works, now operated by DuPont spinoff Chemours, it remains in area water supplies, including the PUB's. But it wasn't at a level that made the utility eligible for the active carbon filtration systems DuPont and Chemours provided to some water systems. And the level remained below the revised risk threshold of 70 parts per trillion issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2016.
But a new, nonbinding lifetime drinking water advisory issued in June was set at 0.004 parts per trillion. Tests show levels of C8 in treated water from the PUB from 12 to 55 parts per trillion, depending on how much water is drawn from well 1, Bennett said.
The funding for the project comes from money made available specifically to address contaminants like PFAS as part of the recent federal infrastructure law, Bennett said. The $12.6 million is intended to cover design and construction and is a "principle-forgiveness loan," he said.
Although a bond will be issued for the funding, there is no local funding required, he said.
"There's no payback," Bennett said.
No timeline has been established for the project, but Bennett said "we intend to move as quickly as we can."
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.