Hardwick finds PFAS above limit at co-op site

Select Board · Meeting of September 14, 2026

Hardwick finds PFAS above the state limit at a town-owned well eyed for a future police station. The Board of Health's Rick Romano and licensed site professional Scott Parker told the Select Board a well at 402 Lower Road tested at 40.4 parts per trillion, more than double the state's 20-parts-per-trillion drinking water standard, tied to a town dump that closed near the Hardwick Farmers Co-op in the 1960s. Two monitoring wells behind the co-op came back at 63.8 and 97 parts per trillion; a nearby well at 444 Lower Road tested within the standard at 13 parts per trillion on confirmatory resample.

The town must offer testing to private wells within 500 feet of any contaminated well, though testing is voluntary and commercial properties face no treatment mandate below the limit. Separately, the board unanimously set the fiscal 2027 sewer rate at $1,299 per unit, based on 740 billable units and a $961,161.34 revenue requirement, and appointed Jeremy "Geo" Giannetti executive assistant to the town administrator. Vice Chair William Tinker said of staffing concerns, "it's money well spent."

In the full story:

• Who Was There
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• The complete report — 3,111 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of September 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.