NLWC News
Advocate for the Environment – Join the NLWC's Community Advocates!
February 4, 2026
If you feel aligned with our mission and would like to support our work through advocacy, there are many meaningful ways to get involved. You can attend local regulatory meetings, participate in and speak at Annual Town Meetings, serve as an informed environmental ambassador among friends and neighbors, rally support for articles that protect Nantucket’s natural resources, and oppose those that pose risks to their long-term health. You can also lend your voice by drafting or signing Letters to the Editor.
If you’re interested in participating in our advocacy efforts as a Community Advocate, please click
HERE.
The NLWC is pleased to announce the launch of our PFAS Well Testing Reimbursement Program , an initiative aimed at reducing financial barriers to drinking water testing and improving accessibility to informed drinking water decisions. Made possible by the Nantucket Land & Water Council’s Water Fund, with generous support from ReMain Nantucket and the Madaket Conservation Association . PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of widely used synthetic chemicals found in many everyday products. Often referred to as "forever chemicals" because of their persistence in the environment, PFAS can enter groundwater and contaminate drinking water supplies . Long-term exposure to certain PFAS has been linked to a range of adverse health effects. For Nantucket residents who rely on private wells, testing is the only way to know whether PFAS are present in their drinking water . The Town of Nantucket Health and Human Services Department offers PFAS well testing through Barnstable County Laboratory, with test kits available at 131 Pleasant Street.
On August 31st, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a letter rebuking the efforts of Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund (SBPF) to expand the geotube project on Sconset Beach . Nantucket Land & Water Council (NLWC) along with over a dozen Nantucket residents, including members of the Nantucket Coastal Conservancy (collectively “Appellants”), appealed the Conservation Commission’s March 2025 approval of an Order of Conditions for the geotube expansion. Now seventeen months later, DEP’s letter dated August 31, 2026, casts grave doubt on whether the expansion project will be approved by the state agency . T his setback follows the denial of a license for the project at Town Meeting last spring.
To the Editor, This letter is about the water situation on the island. As the Nantucket Waterkeeper, I measure the water levels in our aquifer every month (a half-century tradition of the Nantucket Land & Water Council) at ten wells across the island from ’Sconset to Madaket. These wells are simply metal or pvc pipes installed just far enough below the surface to reach and measure the ups and downs of our aquifer. This data is used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Mass Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It's also available to the public on USGS’s website- The exact well used to determine if we’re in a drought or not is well #228 . You’ll notice that it continues to trend downward. With the exception of two very shallow wells in Madaket which have shown some recovery from recent rain, the other seven wells across the island continue to trend downward.
