Debate on quality of water resurfaces Coalition says boro's testing for PFOA levels in water was flawed BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer A month after Sayreville officials announced there was a nondetectable level of a potential carcinogen in local drinking water, a coalition of environmental and labor groups criticized that finding in a press conference Monday. The DuPont Accountability Coalition alleged that there is perfluorooctanoic acid [PFOA] contamination in local streams and in the borough's drinking water supply. The borough responded last month by having Severn Trent Labs Inc., of Denver, conduct tests. Severn did not detect PFOA in the drinking water, but the coalition is skeptical of those findings, saying they are flawed by design and potentially misleading. Borough Business Adminis-trator Jeff Bertrand told the Suburban he takes issue with the characterization of the borough's testing as flawed. The borough, he said, followed proper procedures and guidelines in testing the water. PFOA, also known as C-8, is a synthetic chemical that does not occur naturally in the environment, according to the DEP. The chemical is produced by DuPont and is used at its plant in Parlin, which has operated in the borough for over 100 years. The chemical is used to make the fluoropolymers used in nonstick cookware and all-weather clothing. The coalition, made up of several groups including the United Steel Workers Union, New Jersey Work Environment Council, the New York-New Jersey Baykeeper, the New Jersey Environmental Federation and the New Jersey Sierra Club, had water samples tested by AXYS Technologies in Canada. The AXYS lab detected the chemical in the water samples, which were taken at the borough's library, a local business and two homes near the DuPont Parlin Plant. The PFOA level in those samples were 3 to 53 parts per trillion, according to the coalition. The Severn Trent lab conducted its test using .01 parts per billion as the threshold, thus finding no detectable levels of PFOA in the four samples collected from a drinking water fountain in the library and the borough's water treatment plant on Bordentown Avenue. Denise Patel of the New Jersey Work Environment Council called upon the borough to conduct another test, and asked for the DEP to follow up on it, since the coalition's lab tested its samples with different standards that were able to detect trace amounts of PFOA. "We believe that the results are misleading," Patel said, "and they were flawed in the way they were done." Jane Nogaki of the New Jersey Environmental Federation was critical of the borough's findings. "The fact that the borough didn't report PFOA in their samples doesn't mean the chemical isn't in the water," Nogaki said in a press release provided by the coalition. "It just means the levels of PFOA in the water were below the amount the laboratory reported." Richard C. Abraham, environmental consultant for the U.S. Workers Union, also called upon officials to measure PFOA contamination at lower levels so that it can be detected. "People have a right to know what they are drinking," Abraham said. Sayreville Councilman Stanley Drwal questioned the motives of the coalition, telling the Suburban that he is critical of the characterizations of the borough's test results. "I am really disappointed in what [the coalition is] doing," Drwal said. "I think that if you really read between the lines, they are misleading the public, and as chairman of the water committee I question their motives." Drwal characterized the coalition's claims as pseudo-science. "Our motive is the safety of residents," he said. "These people from outside of town are misleading the public and scaring residents for no reason. They are picking and choosing statements to question the safety of our water. We are under the scrutiny of the DEP and we will continue to test our water on a regular basis." Parlin resident Margaret Rocca spoke at the press conference, saying she is purchasing bottled water for her family after samples that the coalition collected from her home tested positive for trace levels of PFOA. "I need to know what they are going to do about this," Rocca said. "Don't just hide it. We need to take care of it." Drwal said the borough has nothing to hide, adding that it tested borough water for PFOA as soon as concerns were raised to ensure the safety of residents. "I and the entire administration live here and drink the water," Drwal said. "These people do not even live in town and it appears that they are trying to put the borough between their dispute with DuPont. We feel confident about our testing. The state DEP stands behind our testing. I question [the coalition's] integrity and the purpose of what they are doing," Drwal said. The borough will continue to monitor the water supply on a regular basis, Drwal said. "The DEP said that we are fine, and we are not going to continue to waste taxpayer money for no reason," Drwal said. "As far as we are concerned, this case is closed, unless we hear otherwise from the DEP."