Salisbury, MD — The City of Salisbury is excited to announce the approval and full funding of its proposed Naylor Mill Village Mobile Home Park (MHP) Water System Extension and PFAS remediation project.
The Salisbury Department of Water Works has received notification from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) that the City will receive $4,874,910 in loan principal forgiveness to cover the cost of the project. The project was approved by the City Council during a Monday, Dec. 18 work session.
“We are excited to be able to expand our water service to the residents of Naylor Mill Village MHP as well as create a loop that will improve water pressure, redundancy and water quality in other parts of the network as recommended in the June 2016 Water System Master Plan,” said Cori Cameron Director of the Water Works Department.
The project aims to address the elevated PFAS in the drinking water at Naylor Mill Village MHP. PFAS stands for per-and polyflouroalkyl substances, which are thousands of manufactured chemicals that have been widely used in industry and consumer products since the 1950s. They have properties that resist grease, oil, water and heat and take a long time to break down. According to the Environment Protection Agency, PFAS can build up over time in people, animals and the environment — including public drinking water systems and wells.
The elevated levels on the site, at the corner of Log Cabin Road and Naylor Mill Road, were discovered during MDE’s ongoing testing of the State’s drinking water for PFAS. Elevated levels were found in both of the park’s wells with one testing at more than 100 parts per trillion and leaving the residents of the 52-site community with just one usable well.
In January, the owners of the park officially asked for the City’s help, in partnership with MDE by way of loan forgiveness. The Maryland Water Infrastructure Financing Administration (MWIFA) ranked the project 9th in importance out of 122 approved and priority listed projects.
“Everyone deserves clean drinking water,” Mayor Randy Taylor said. “We are happy to extend water services to our neighbors at Naylor Mill and grateful for the state funding which has been provided to do so. An added benefit will be the additional fire protection provided to residents by the upgraded system.”
In addition to the improved drinking water, the expansion will also upgrade the site’s water system to include the required 8-inch mains in place of the 2-inch existing mains. The mains are sized to provide fire protection and fire hydrants will be installed at distances to meet the code. Water service will be metered at each individual lot.
