East Lyme — It’ll take $17 million to upgrade a town water treatment plant near East Lyme Middle School so it can remove PFAS, or forever chemicals, from three wells that provide drinking water for residents. If all goes according to plan, Water and Sewer Department Chief Operating Officer Ben North said Monday the project should be done in fall or winter 2027. North said he hopes the final cost will end up being less. Unfortunately, he said, there’s no grant funding available, and the town will have to borrow to pay for the project. Last week the Board of Selectmen voted to let the town use about $165,000 in funding left over from other projects to pay for preliminary engineering and equipment and to help with the down payment on the loan the town will eventually need to get. The town will start paying back the loan when the work is complete, and when it makes its first payment, it also has to pay the accrued interest all at once.

https://theday.com/news/845516/east-lyme-to-embark-on-17-million-pfas-removal/