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PARKERSBURG -- The Parkersburg Utility Board decided Tuesday to review a proposed agreement for engineering services for the design and installation of a filtration system to remove C8 from its water.
The board selected Burgess & Niple earlier this month to serve as the engineer for the $12.6 million project. Approval of the agreement, with a cost not to exceed $1,294,700, was on the agenda for the board's regular meeting Tuesday.
But after some updates to the contract last week, board member Greg Herrick asked for a subcommittee to go over it again before a vote was taken.
"For this much money, we need a little bit more time," Herrick said.
None of the other board members objected. Members and staff stayed after the meeting to review the proposed contract. The agreement is expected to appear again on the board's May 9 agenda.
The board voted 4-0, with one seat vacant, to approve an engagement letter for attorney Todd Swanson of Steptoe & Johnson to work with West Virginia Public Service Commission requirements related to the project. It's being funded by a principle forgiveness loan from the state using money allocated by the federal government to address contaminants like C8 in water supplies. The attorney's fee of $15,000 would be paid out of those funds.
Construction is expected to start next year on the project, which will install a granular activated carbon filtration system to remove C8, a chemical used for years in the Teflon production process at the former DuPont Washington Works facility, from drinking water.
C8 is part of a family of compounds known as PFAS, often referred to as "forever chemicals" because of how long they take to break down.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated them as hazardous substances in August.
While other utilities received filtration systems as the result of a class-action lawsuit, the levels at the PUB did not reach the threshold for eligibility. But a new, nonbinding lifetime drinking water advisory of 0.004 parts per trillion was set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in June. Tests have shown levels of C8 in treated PUB water of 12 parts per trillion.