HOULTON, Maine — Construction has started on a water distribution system that is expected to end a nearly seven-year battle to eliminate forever chemicals from resident taps at the Houlton Mobile Home Park.
Last fall the town and the park’s owner, Tony Brettkelly, thought clean water was on its way. But it took another nine months to come up with the money to start building the system that will bring clean water from the Houlton Water Co. to individual homes in the park.
Polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a problem around the state and were discovered in the park’s well. Removing them from drinking water is difficult and costly. It took the combined efforts of the park’s owner, the Houlton Water Co. and the town of Houlton.
It took several state and federal grants that the town helped secure along with Brettkelly’s own financial contributions to bring clean water to the 80 or so people living at the park.
To secure nearly $1.6 million required for this final fix from the Maine Drinking Water Program, Brettkelly had to first deposit matching funds into the Maine Municipal Bond Bank.
Brettkelly recently deposited $141,000, according to Houlton Water Co. General Manager Greg Sherman.
After the initial testing in 2018 showed contamination in the mobile home’s well, more state testing in 2022 reported PFAS levels at 183.4 parts per million, well above the safe level of 20 parts per million, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
Park management has been supplying residents with bottled water ever since, although the contaminated water is used for laundry, showers and cleaning. Last year several residents said it was not a big problem for them.
The PFAS contamination was a shock to Brettkelly, who found out shortly after purchasing the 19-acre property.
Brettkelly lives in San Francisco but spent a lot of time in Aroostook County because his daughters lived in Portland. When the Houlton Mobile Home Park came on the market, he purchased it because of its beautiful setting, unaware of the water issue, he said in a previous interview.
The County’s water contamination problems are largely due to municipal sewage sludge spread onto farm fields, a practice the EPA stopped several years ago.
At this point, the Houlton Water Co. hydrant in the park will supply water to all these trailers and the construction company is working toward getting each home hooked up to a temporary water line.
Sherman said they run temporary water lines to make sure residents have water when it is disrupted during the construction of the permanent distribution lines.
The water company owns everything up to the hydrant and Brettkelly owns the distribution system, Sherman said.
Brettkelly could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts by phone, text and email.
Sherman said that the Houlton Water Co. also plans to run the water main along Old Woodstock Road because other wells in the area are PFAS contaminated and if they need to get water to other homes in the area, the water main will be already there.
They hope to get the distribution project completed before the first freeze, but Sherman said he does not have the details on the timeline.
