Mayors of neighboring villages Williston Park and East Williston are in continued discussion regarding their residents’ water rates.
Williston Park, which provides water to East Williston, said the village would raise the water rate by 33% at a Feb. 24 public hearing to fund the construction of granular activated carbon filters on its three wells.
The filters, a response to new federal water quality standards mandating that all drinking water contain under four parts per trillion of PFAS chemicals by 2029, would bring the harmful chemicals down to undetectable levels. As the two villages’ water rates are tied together due to a 2016 agreement, East Williston residents are also subject to the 33% increase.
East Williston Mayor Bonnie Parente and some of her village’s residents have raised concerns over the filters’ necessity to meet the new standard and a desire for another engineering report to be run. She has asked Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar to pause the rate increase for 30 to 60 days to reassess, a request he has denied.
Though the new federal quality standard will not go into effect until 2029, Ehrbar said it was necessary to raise the water rate to begin funding the construction of the filters now, as planning, building, and implementation will take a significant amount of time. He added that the village would face penalties if it violated the federal standard, something he wanted to avoid.
“We’re planning ahead,” Ehrbar said. “I don’t see it being aggressive. I see it as doing what needs to be done. These are the guidelines set by the federal government. We have to follow them.”
Ehrbar added that he trusted the recommendations made by his engineering team, with whom his village has worked for decades.
“They’re very knowledgeable, they’re trustworthy. They’ve done their research,” Ehrbar said. “Their background is in doing this. They’ve done a number of these plans, and I trust what they’re saying. I’m listening to the engineers.”
Parente and Ehrbar have traded letters back and forth over the weeks since the public hearing.
Parente had asked for additional information regarding Williston Park’s engineer’s water study and more recent water quality data, which Ehrbar provided. She said the information further convinced her of the necessity of a pause and reassessment, citing her primary reasoning as the PFAS levels at some of the village’s wells have been regularly measured below four ppt over the past few years.
Ehrbar explained that, although this was the case, health department recommendations state that when water quality is at 50% of the maximum contaminant level, in this case 2 ppt of PFAS chemicals, plans to improve water filtration should begin to be made.
His engineering team has emphasized the importance of acting quickly to bring PFAS chemicals down to undetectable levels with new filters before the new federal guideline goes into effect, especially since some water quality measurements have shown PFAS levels above 4 ppt.
Ehrbar emphasized his commitment to working cordially with Parente on the issue and dedication to providing clean water to village residents. He said if East Williston ran additional engineering studies, he would be happy to review them.
