Private Bend water companies have no known ‘forever chemical’ detections for now

Published 5:15 am Friday, November 24, 2023

After the city of Bend detected “forever chemicals” in one of its wells in May, local private water companies say they aren’t concerned about similar detections.

As part of nationally mandated testing, city of Bend officials detected small amounts of PFAS chemicals in one of its wells — the Copperstone Well near NW Mount Washington Drive — earlier this year, which led to the city joining two class action law suits.

PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of thousands of chemicals called forever chemicals because they don’t break down in the body or the environment.

Private water companies in and around Bend told The Bulletin they weren’t too concerned about PFAS detections in their respective water supplies for now.

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Avion Water Co. tested its main reservoir for PFAS chemicals in June, company president John Wick said.

That test didn’t detect any PFAS chemicals.

“We figured it would be good to know the answer,” Wicks said.

He speculated that the test didn’t detect PFAS chemicals because Avion, which serves more than 15,000 customers, draws its water solely from below-ground sources while the city draws its water from a mix of surface water and below-ground sources.

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According to previous reporting by The Bulletin, the city serves around 75% of Bend’s water users, while 20% of users are supplied by Avion Water, and 5% are supplied by Roats Water System. Avion and Roats are both rate- and service-regulated utilities under the Oregon Public Utility Commission.

Roats Water System tested for PFAS chemicals in January 2023 as required by the Environmental Protection Agency, and found none, according to Michelle Berg, the company’s manager.

The company, which serves 2,600 customers, is anticipating testing again in 2024, and likely will for years to come.

As water companies and public bodies wait and see how state and federal regulations for PFAS chemicals take shape, Oregon is already well-positioned. The state’s water regulations are some of the most stringent in the country, according to Dale Beshara, the watermaster for Cimmarron City Water Co., a roughly 155-customer company that serves residents near the Bend Municipal Airport.

“The things that happened in Flint, Michigan could never happen in Oregon,” Beshara said.

PFAS chemicals are on Cimmarron City’s radar, he added, but no formal testing has been done.

“I’m sure we will in the future, Beshara said, “But not now.”