PFAS Statement

Middle Spring Watershed Association
Public Statement on Middle Spring Creek PFAS Site
13 November 2024

Over the past two weeks, Middle Spring Watershed Association (MSWA) has become aware that there is a major source of PFAS chemicals discharging into Middle Spring Creek. The site is near Fish Hatchery Road, between its confluence with Burd Run and the hamlet of Middle Spring.

This site was discovered through a series of tests conducted in 2023. It was referred to the PA DEP Program for Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields, who have been managing it the past year (since November 2023), doing periodic testing at various locations along the stream and in private water sources, informing local landowners, and developing a plan to address the situation.

DEP has been providing affected households with bottled water to drink.

DEP anticipates holding public outreach information sessions, starting in about six months, concerning the Middle Spring Creek PFAS site and its effects, including health concerns. 

The site is listed, as Middle Spring Creek Site, in Cumberland County, on the PFAS locator at URL
https://www.dep.pa.gov/Citizens/My-Water/drinking_water/PFAS/Pages/Locations.aspx

Test results strongly support the idea that the majority of PFAS contamination in Middle Spring Creek and Conodoguinet Creek originates at this site, significantly raising PFAS readings as far downstream as Carlisle and Camp Hill.

A variety of PFAS substances are being discharged, including PFBS, PFHxS, PFHxA, PFHpA, and others, but the discharge is primarily PFOS, i.e. Perfluorooctane Sulfonic Acid, and secondarily Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA).

The PFAS source has been determined to be contaminated groundwater. PFAS levels in the creek proximate to the source have tested, repeatedly in the low hundreds of picos, or parts per trillion (ppt). Nearby wells and tap water have tested in hundreds and, in some instances, thousands of parts per trillion (ppt).

The (recently established) EPA threshold for PFOS and PFOA in drinking water is 4 ppt. The threshold for some other PFAS is 10 ppt. There is no regulatory threshold for PFAS in other contexts, such as creeks or rivers. (See https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas )

The full extent of the underground PFAS “plume” at Middle Spring Creek is still being determined.

MSWA has communicated information about this PFAS contamination to municipal authorities in the Southampton Townships of both Cumberland and Franklin Counties. 

Local residents wishing to learn more about PFAS, may wish to look at the following websites:
https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pfc
https://extension.psu.edu/pfas-drinking-water-standards-testing-and-treatment-in-pennsylvania
https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-pfas-levels-philadelphia-suburbs-contamination/

The health effects of PFAS substances are understood to come from ingestion, i.e. drinking contaminated water or eating animals in which PFAS have bioaccumulated. There could also be some risk in inhalation of airborne PFAS molecules from disturbed soil, dust, or household sources. There is believed to be little threat from external contact, such as wading in water.

MSWA recommends that residents in the vicinity of Fish Hatchery Road and/or near Middle Spring Creek, downstream (north) of its confluence with Burd Run, have their home water supply tested for PFAS.

Although we are not yet aware of any data on PFAS levels in fish or other riparian wildlife, MSWA also recommends people take the precaution of avoiding eating fish or other riparian organisms taken from the lower sections of Middle Spring Creek or portions of Conodoguinet Creek proximate to Middle Spring Creek.

MSWA will continue to keep the public advised as we learn more in coming weeks and months.

Parties wishing to contact DEP directly about this site are advised to contact:

Benjamin P. Thonus | Program Manager, Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields
Department of Environmental Protection | Southcentral Regional Office
909 Elmerton Ave | Harrisburg, PA 17110
717.705.4938 or benthonus@pa.gov