PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank, the state’s central hub for financing infrastructure improvements for municipalities, businesses and homeowners, has awarded a $650,000 grant to Wood River Health Services Inc. in Hopkinton to implement a treatment system to remove long-lasting manmade chemicals from the agency’s well water drinking source.
Grant funding was made available via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Emerging Contaminants in (Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program.
Inside Scoop on PC’s Sports Administration Program
This past August Providence College announced its newest graduate program, an online Master of Science…
Learn More
“Wood River Health Services provides medical, dental and behavioral health services to 10,000 residents, yet their own drinking water system was found to contain high levels of PFAS,” or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, said William Fazioli, Infrastructure Bank executive director. “This $650,000 Emerging Contaminants grant will allow Wood River to design and implement a robust PFAS treatment system, ensuring the long-term safety of their water supply, and ultimately protecting the health of the patients they serve.”
PFAS don’t break down easily in the environment and come from a wide variety of products. The chemicals can build up in the body over time.
“When testing indicated that our own well water system had high levels of PFAS, we knew we needed to act quickly to address the issue to protect the health of our patients and staff,” said Alison Croke, CEO of Wood River Health Services. “As a community health center with a tight budget, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new treatment system was going to be extremely difficult. That is why we are so grateful to the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank for this $650,000 Emerging Contaminants grant to implement a new treatment system that will ensure that our drinking water no longer contains PFAS.”
