Action Alert! Help Ensure ALL Massachusetts Residents Have Safe Water to Drink!

Action Aler! Help Ensure ALL Massachusetts Residents Have Safe Water to Drink!

Whether you rely on a public water system or a private well for your drinking water, this is an issue of health equity, and we need your support! Below are several ways you can help move the private well legislation forward.

On Wednesday, September 27, the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources held a hearing on the private well legislation, An Act Promoting Drinking Water Quality for All (bill numbers S.482 and H.902). The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Senator Jamie Eldridge. The House version of the bill is sponsored by Representative Dan Sena and Representative Smitty Pignatelli.

This bill aims to provide protections to the over 500,000 Massachusetts residents who rely on private wlls for their drinking water. This bill would enable the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to develop a set of health-based regulations which would provide statewide water quality standards for private drinking water wells.

In addition, the bill would expand the existing MassHousing Septic Repair Loan Program (SRLP) to provide low-income homeowners with access to financial assistance to remediate contaminated private wells.

Many residents who rely on private wells are consuming water that may be unsafe. Naturally occurring contaminants in well water can include substances such as arsenic, E. coli, radon, and uranium, which can lead to both short-term and long-term health impacts. Man-made PFAS contaminants have also posed a growing concern.

From 2020 to 2022, RCAP Solutions conducted 502 water quality tests across several Massachusetts towns which had a high concentration of private wells. We discovered that approximately 32% of wells had levels of contaminants exceeding state health standards and/or suggesting potential health risks.

View the recording of the hearing here (segment begins at 1:45:53).

GET INVOLVED & STAY INFORMED!

Sign Our Letter of Support for Bill S.482/H.902, An Act Promoting Drinking Water Quality for All

Help RCAP Solutions, The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, and other members of the Coalition for Safe Drinking Water show that there is widespread support for this bill by signing on to our letter of support. You can read the full letter here.

In order to sign-on to the letter, please complete our Google Form. You may use this form to sign-on as an individual or as an organization.

If you sign-on as an individual, your full name and city/town will be listed on the letter.

If you sign-on as an organization, your organization (and not your own name) will be listed on the letter. All types of organizations (non-profits, for-profits, boards of health, etc.) from anywhere in Massachusetts are welcome to sign-on.