For nine years, Janine Hall and her three children have not had safe water to drink.
"I unknowingly exposed [my] children to contaminated water for years, due to someone else’s negligence,” she said Wednesday.
Hall and her husband live on Short Road in Bloomsburg. Last October, while they took their children trick-or-treating, a neighbor broke the news that they were exposed to dangerously high levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — commonly known as forever chemicals.
Hall was among the residents from Bloomsburg and North and South Centre Townships who demanded answers from the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) at the Lime Ridge Community Center. The DEP started its investigation into groundwater and wells near the Brookside Village Mobile Home Park, where contamination was first detected last April after routine water testing.
The agency discovered dangerously high levels of PFAS. The contamination was likely from sewage sludge, also known as biosolids, used as fertilizer on nearby farms in the 1980s, according to DEP. The sludge is the byproduct of wastewater treatment. DEP is also testing a former electroplating operation in the area for contamination.
Residents, like the Hall family, say they found about the forever chemicals in their water six months after the DEP's discovery.
Unsafe levels in Pennsylvania
PFAS are man-made chemicals that break down slowly and can stay in the human body and the environment for long periods of time. The chemicals are in everyday products such as cleaning supplies, pesticides and food packaging.
Pennsylvania started regulating PFAS in 2023. Scientists still don't know much about the chemicals' effects on the human body, but they have been linked to several kinds of cancer.
South Centre Twp. resident Lorie Shadle has lived on Hidlay Church Road in Bloomsburg on the edge of DEP’s testing radius for 42 years. DEP told her that her water has the highest level of PFAS contamination, at around 2,900 parts per trillion.
She said she remembers when sewage sludge was first spread on farms in the community. Several farmers spoke out against the possible dangers of contamination, she said, but to little effect.
Shadle said she believes PFAS from sewage sludge have negatively affected her family’s health. At the hearing, she read out a list of health issues she fears PFAS exposure either created or exacerbated — including osteoarthritis, anemia and miscarriage. Her eldest daughter first battled cancer at age 10 and was diagnosed in 2019 with stage four metastatic melanoma that spread to her lymph nodes, liver, lungs and brain.
“One must wonder if PFAS toxins contributed to these and what more might come,” Shadle said.
Hall said the DEP swiftly came to her home to test its water supply after she called. But she feels the damage had already been done. Her water supply had PFAS levels 969 parts per trillion. In Pennsylvania, anything above 14 or 18 levels, depending on the type of chemical, is considered unsafe.
At the hearing, Janine Hall explained that her husband, Peter Hall, had gotten his blood tested for PFAS. Doctors found levels of 280 parts per trillion.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers some types of PFAS to be unsafe at levels above four parts per trillion.
Janine Hall is trying to get herself and her children tested.
“My six-year-old daughter asked me yesterday, ‘Mommy, who put bad chemicals in our water?’ … So, on behalf of my six-year-old … who is responsible,” she asked, her voice breaking.”
Past sludge disposal
Bloomsburg hasn’t disposed of sewage waste on farms for 27 years, said Jeff Stabinski, facility manager for Bloomsburg’s wastewater treatment plant through Myers Environmental.
DEP spokesperson Megan Lehman explained that the Bloomsburg Municipal Authority used to get rid of sewage sludge by putting it on nearby farms in the late 1980s. Documents given to the DEP cite sewage was disposed of on farms near Brookside Village Mobile Home Park between 1988 and 1998.
At its highest, Brookside was found with PFAS levels of 2,100 parts per trillion — 110 times state regulations.
Many residents said Brookside and its owner, UMH Properties, haven’t provided working water filters and have also not told new residents about the area’s PFAS contamination.
UMH Properties sent WVIA the following response by email.
UMH Properties responded quickly to help protect the health of its residents in the Brookside Village community once it learned the state Department of Environmental Protection discovered certain contaminants in the region’s water supply.
UMH offered every resident a kitchen faucet filter, replacement cartridges as needed and offered to replace any filter not operating at peak levels.
Also, as required by the DEP, UMH posted a Public Notice that alerted all residents, including potential residents who are given a copy of the notice at the time they sign a lease agreement, to the water source issue and the remedial measures taken.
UMH takes seriously the health and well-being of every Brookside Village resident. To that end, it is tirelessly working with engineers and other experts on a community-wide plan to treat the water.
UMH pledges to keep residents informed on all remedial actions as they move forward and we thank and appreciate the residents for their cooperation and understanding as the company and local authorities deal with this regional water-supply issue," UMH spokesperson Angela Marriott wrote in an emailed statement.
Resident Dale Thomas Jr. described how he grew up watching his parents fight against sewage waste near his family’s Columbia County home. He said his family has been “victims” of PFAS for 38 years. He recounted being bullied and told that he “smelled like poop” because he lived near areas where sewage was disposed of.
“I don't even think we knew what [was in the sewage] but 30 years later, here we are standing in front of the same agency (the DEP), we pushed for assistance, only to aid them in discovering what happened so many years ago,” said Thomas Jr.
Future filtration
DEP plans to install filtration systems in at least 22 homes in Columbia County through its Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA) program and is providing residents with bottled water in the meantime. Additional homes may be added to the list as the investigation continues.
Peter Hall demanded that someone step up and take responsibility for the contamination and “public health problem.”
“Look around [and] you see stress [and] angst. Start talking to people, [and] you hear stories of unimaginable pain, unimaginable suffering. You hear stories about doctor visits where the doctors can't figure out what's going on,” said Peter Hall. “We have a local health industry that seems to be unwilling to even acknowledge that PFAS are a problem. My question is, Who's going to carry the burden today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? Or 10 years from now?"
The DEP is accepting public comments through May 23, which will be answered through a comment/response document that will be added to the investigation’s administrative record, according to Lehman.
That document will come out in a few weeks, said Lehman.
In the meantime, Lehman said the DEP is continuing to initiate water sampling.
“And also we'll be doing soil sampling on potential sources, once access is granted to two of the locations … we are looking at," she said.
Residents can send comments to Cheryl Sinclair at RA-EPNCECCOMMENTS@pa.gov or by mail to DEP at 208 W. 3rd Street, Suite 101, Williamsport, PA 17701.
