The Newtown Township Planning Commission is set to review a proposal by the Newtown Artesian Water Company for an expansion of one of its facilities.
The meeting where the proposal will be discussed is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19, at the Newtown Township Municipal Complex.
The site for the proposed construction is located at 251 Frost Lane, which is across from Goodnoe Elementary School, in Newtown Township.
The Newtown Artesian Water Company has outlined plans for an addition to the existing facility, which will include updates to the driveway, parking areas, and related infrastructure improvements.
The plans call for a request of zoning relief for rear yard setback, rear property buffer, and exceeding the 35-foot height limitation by five feet.
According to the plans that were posted on Supervisor John Mack’s website, the expansion is designed to enhance the facility’s capability to remove hazardous contaminants from the water supply with a focus on addressing the issue of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination through advanced filtration processes.
The expansion proposal and increased filtering follows detection of PFOS and PFOA contaminants in wells across Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
The contaminants, part of a group known as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkl chemical substances), have been linked to a range of serious health issues, including developmental problems in fetuses and infants, skeletal variations, and cancers in adults.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has highlighted the potential risks associated with PFAS exposure and pointed to the importance of removing these chemicals from drinking water.
PFAS chemicals, which include PFOS and PFOA, are known to remain in the environment and the human body where they can accumulate over time.
PFAS compounds have been used in a wide array of consumer products and industrial applications, including firefighting foams at military bases, carpet manufacturing, and the production of household goods.
The Newtown Artesian Water Company company serves customers in Newtown Borough, Newtown Township, and the northern portion of Middletown Township.
