Wayland Select Board Votes 5-0 to Expand PFAS Study at Contaminated Town Property

WAYLAND — June 29, 2026 — Wayland Select Board votes to expand PFAS investigation at 195 Main Street after contamination reaches 20 times state limit. The board voted 5-0 Monday to authorize roughly $55,000 in additional study work at the town's former DPW property, after licensed site professional Ben Gould reported that PFAS-6 concentrations at monitoring well MW-21 had reached 417 parts per trillion — 20 times the state standard of 20 parts per trillion and far above the roughly 110 parts per trillion previously observed. Gould said the contamination likely originated at the Wayland Middle School septic leach fields, is pooling at the center of the 195 Main Street property, and flows toward Dudley Pond, a public water supply source. He recommended pursuing the most comprehensive of three options — installing new monitoring wells in four public rights of way, completing a full sampling round, and conducting hydraulic conductivity testing — while filing a notice of delay with the state DEP to push the Phase Two report deadline from November 2026 to November 2027. In a joint session, the board and Finance Committee also voted 5-0 each to approve $681,221 in fiscal year 2026 year-end transfers, the largest of which covered a $620,000 snow and ice deficit funded through turnbacks from 18 departments, including by leaving staff positions vacant through June 30.