Global infrastructure firm AECOM has been selected by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to lead a first-of-its-kind pilot program aimed at reducing and destroying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in municipal wastewater treatment systems across the state.
Working in partnership with CDM Smith, AECOM is completing 18 pilot tests within a compressed timeframe, evaluating a range of materials and technologies designed to separate and eliminate PFAS. The program spans multiple publicly-owned treatment works, testing approaches across liquid, solid, and air process streams to better understand how these persistent chemicals behave during treatment.
“This program reflects a highly innovative approach to tackling PFAS by testing multiple technologies in real-world conditions and across multiple treatment streams,” said Sam Donelson, chief executive of AECOM’s U.S. East and Latin America region. “Our team was built to rapidly deploy these pilots while maintaining a rigorous, research-level evaluation, helping accelerate the path toward reliable, long-term treatment solutions.”
PFAS, often referred to as “forever chemicals,” are widely used in industrial and commercial applications and are known for their resistance to degradation. In municipal wastewater systems, they typically pass through treatment processes untreated, posing ongoing environmental and public health concerns.
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Through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (MassDEP’s) program, AECOM is overseeing pilot studies that aim to generate detailed performance data on emerging PFAS treatment and destruction technologies. This includes tracking how PFAS move through treatment systems and assessing their presence in effluent and biosolids.
“PFAS present one of the most complex water challenges facing communities today, and we are committed to advancing practical solutions that help reduce their spread in the environment,” announced Doug Gove, AECOM’s regional business line leader for U.S. East Water, North.
The multi-site, multi-technology approach is expected to provide insights into operational feasibility and scalability, helping utilities evaluate which solutions could be deployed more broadly. Officials say the findings will support future decision-making in Massachusetts and could inform PFAS mitigation strategies in other jurisdictions.
As regulatory scrutiny around PFAS continues to grow, the program is intended to help advance viable treatment options that protect water resources and improve environmental and public health outcomes.
In a promotional video for the project, Lealdon Langley, director of the MassDEP’s Wetlands and Wastewater Program, says the pilot research involves technologies such as foam fractionation and incineration. He said that a report on the results and long-term reliability and effectiveness of each technology at full scale could be available as soon as this summer.
In late April, the state announced more than $10.3 million in grants to 18 public water suppliers to promote consistent access to clean drinking water for Massachusetts residents. MassDEP selected these projects to help treat and remove contaminants such as PFAS and manganese.
States are required to establish regulations that are no less stringent than federal standards.
According to 2024 data from MassDEP, about 47% of PFAS contamination comes from manufacturing sites, landfills, industrial paper, waste composting and scrap metal facilities, as well as fertilizer from biosolids. Another 30% of the contamination comes from aqueous film-forming foam used for firefighting at training areas and airports. The rest of the source of PFAS contamination is considered unknown.
The EPA’s Final PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation states:
- Public water systems must monitor for these PFAS and have three years to complete initial monitoring (by 2027), followed by ongoing compliance monitoring. Water systems must also provide the public with information on the levels of these PFAS in their drinking water beginning in 2027.
- Public water systems have five years (by 2029) to implement solutions that reduce these PFAS if monitoring shows that drinking water levels exceed these maximum contaminant levels (MCLs).
- Beginning in five years (2029), public water systems that have PFAS in drinking water which violates one or more of these MCLs must take action to reduce levels of these PFAS in their drinking water and must provide notification to the public of the violation.
